Dragons, Vikings, and Drabbles
by Victoria62015
Summary: A series of one-shots to go with How to be a Pirate Meets the Movie. Most recent:Hiccups. That's right folks, you guessed it here:  Hiccup, classically, has got a bad case of the hiccups.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: YAY DRABBLES! I find these so much fun. Don't you? I do! eh hem, yup sorry. Anywho, I would like to say I ADORE PROMPTS! You want AstridxHiccup fluff? Sure. Hiccup and Toothless FRIENDSHIP fluff? Of course. Anything in between or that you can come up with? Most definitely. There will be rules, though!**

**NO SEX SCENES. Kissing, yes. Blood and fighting scenes, yes. Anything beyond that? HECK NO.**

**NO YAOI. Or gay or whatever you like to call it. I do not believe in it, but I'm not against gays either. Not at all. I actually have some friends that are gay and they are probably the best people I have ever met. You will never find me at one of those protests, but it is against my beliefs.**

**I do not like profanity. You don't need to make a story cuss to prove a point or just to make it funny. I will prove this! I am determined!**

**OK: think I'm done here! So, please prompt! I beg! So, I'm guess what I'm saying here is HELP ME. I want you guys to take part too, it makes the story specialer! Is that a word? Whatever it is now. XD So, I hope you like this. There will be sad ones, funny ones, general ones, full on fluff ones, whatever you guys want you just gotta ask. *cough cough* Now, I present to you, my first ever drabble!**

_**That'd be Useless**_

_**Toothless's POV**_

"Astrid! I didn't mean it! I was just kidding!" My rider whined as his mate chased him around swinging her ax like a wild women.

I sat with Astrid's Nadder, Sharp, whilst watching Hiccup and Astrid train in handling weapons. And then it kinda erupted, and here we were now watching Hiccup run for his life. Why don't I explain?

Hiccup used to be at a total lost with fighting, until he found out he was left-handed. He was quite the swords-man now. Dare I say better than Astrid? Well, I think I shall. While Astrid could handle throwing an ax or using a hammer, Hiccup could easily dodge and swing with swords. It took us all by surprise when he actually _beat _Tuffnut the second time they challenged each other. Astrid, being Astrid, and despite the fact she was madly in love with the fishbone (though she would NEVER admit it), was more determined than ever to beat Hiccup in a sword-fight. Not wanting to miss the show, Sharp and I decided to tag along and watch safely from the side lines.

They started off pretty easily. Just like any other match would, a dodge here, a swing there. Until they started talking during the match. Astrid got competitive when it came to sports, and she threw insults and teases at the boy playfully. Hiccup, not good in sports, came competitive when it came to a challenge of words. And, well, get in a challenge of words with Hiccup, and you were, what's the word humans used? _Screwed. _Hiccup is witty, can think on his feet, and doesn't think before he speaks!

"Can't catch me Hiccup! Face it you're good, but not that good," Astrid had teased with a sly smile. She dodged another one of his swings. (Don't worry, we made SURE that no wooden cases would be falling off this time). Hiccup chuckled at Astrid's words, before dodging one of her blows.

"Well, Astrid the great, we'll see about that," he mocked playfully. I rolled my eyes as the two bantered and bickered. I could feel Astrid getting angrier and more frustrated the longer the fight continued.

"Hiccup, this is going to last until _I _beat you, and I admit that could last a while. So cry uncle so I don't have to give you a concussion!" Astrid demanded.

Hiccup laughed. "Come on Astrid, admit it! I can actually beat you in something that deals with physical movement for once!"

"NEVER!" she shouted, but still smiling.

_"Really, Toothless, do you think this will ever end?" _Sharp complained. I smirked.

_"Most likely: no. This is going to take a while. . ."_ I said with a sigh. We turned our attention back to the dueling couple, watching Astrid make fierce strikes as Hiccup swiftly dodged out of the way. They sure do make a pair, I'll tell you that.

"Come on Astrid, you cry uncle!" Hiccup mused.

"Ha!" Astrid snickered. "You wish! At least I can carry a hammer!" she mocked, stopping a bit. Letting herself off guard.

Hiccup smiled. Seeing a good opportunity, he thrust his sword forward and mildly tapped her stomach. Astrid's mouth gaped, totally surprised, and full of anger. Hiccup smiled. "At least I can dodge!" he teased.

Astrid was furious. With her eyes narrowed and jaw set in a tight line she swung viciously at Hiccup's chest. Hiccup dodged quickly, gasping at Astrid's violent swing.

"At least I have coordination when it comes to walking!" Astrid roared, angry at the fact her boyfriend had beaten her.

"At least I can control my temper!" Hiccup protested.

Astrid growled and swiped the blade back and forth trying to hit Hiccup. Hiccup parried back and forth, dodging every one. Astrid snarled and swung her sword at his head, Hiccup narrowly missing the blow by ducking and laughing as he did. That's what did it.

Astrid blew up. "AT LEAST I HAVE BOTH MY LEGS!"

Everything froze. The earth practically held its breath. Astrid's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes glazing over. Sharp's jaw dropped. Rage bubbled inside me. Reminding him he was crippled, reminding me I couldn't save all of him! That was IT! I sprung up, ready to protect my human if needed.

_"How dare you mention his-!" _I began, but Hiccup cut me off.

He sprung up, face full of an anger no one was used to. "AT LEAST IT'S NOT MY TIME OF THE MONTH EVERY OTHER WEEK!"

Hiccup's hand flew to his mouth. My jaw dropped. I would've found it hilarious if we weren't in this situation. . .

The couple stood there, both of them with hands over their mouth. Both totally shocked, and taken off guard. Then Astrid took into realization what Hiccup just said. Slowly, her hand left her mouth. She stepped towards Hiccup, eyes looking watery.

"Hiccup, listen, I'm _so _sorry I said that! You know I didn't mean it I was just angry! Please forgive me, I should've never said it I take it back! Oh gods," she said, falling onto Hiccup into a hug. "I didn't mean it, really I didn't! It was just-," She continued, getting hysterical.

"Astrid it's ok," Hiccup soothed, pulling her off of him so they could look at each other. "You were just angry. I understand. It happens to all of us. . ." he said, looking down and smiling sheepishly, knowing his anger over powered him, too. I sat down, knowing the couple would be ok now. I glanced at Sharp, who gave the same worried, sincere expression I also had.

"Hiccup," Astrid chuckled, lifting Hiccup's chin with her index finger, "what you said wasn't nearly as bad. Insulting yes. But what I said was out of line. Do you forgive me?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Course I do."

Astrid smiled, and kissed Hiccup on the lips. As usual. . . "Good. _That _was to make up for what I said, and for you forgiving me," she said with a bright smile. Then she reached her hand behind her, and slowly began to pull out the ax she always kept on her back. "and _this, _is for insulting me like that!"

Why the girl had the ax in the first place, I'll never know. She already had the sword, bringing the ax was really pointless in my opinion. Hiccup looked nervous now, knowing exactly what he had coming.

_"Hiccup,"_ I called. He looked to me, begging for help. _"I would run."_ He slowly looked back to Astrid timidly. With one nervous chuckle, he shot off in the other direction.

So here we are now!

We watched the girl-warrior and boy-genius run around in circles with half-amusement. One shouting curses and threats, the other apologizing and begging to be spared. I actually chuckled a little at the situation.

_"Hey Toothless," _ Sharp said, slowly guiding her attention to me instead of the fight.

_"Yes," _I said, looking to her.

_"You're a Night Fury,"_ she stated.

I snickered. _"I am! How come nobody told me?"_

She raised an eye, looking un-amused. _"That's not my point. You're a Night Fury, there-fore you're over possessive than most dragons. . ." _I raised my eyes now, realizing where she was getting at. _"And you are rather protective of that boy or yours, and I was wondering why you haven't interfered between any of Astrid's or Hiccup's little quarrels."_

I laughed lightly, quickly glancing at the fighting teens before turning my attention back to Sharp. _"We both know Astrid would never really hurt the boy. She just wants to scare him," _I explained.

_"Well don't you think we could put an end to these little fights? That can't be good for their relationship," _she said sounding worried.

I looked at the couple. Then back to the Nadder. Then back at the couple again. And then back to Sharp. I burst into laughter. _"That, my friend, is a lost cause!"_

Hiccup then darted in front of us, stopping for a moment to catch his breath. He looked to me annoyed. "Geez," he said, still trying to breathe right, "thanks bud. I appreciate that," he said sarcastically.

I caught a wisp of blonde coming from behind the boy. _"Hiccup, behind you. . ."_

"What?" He turned just in time to see Astrid coming at him full speed. He barely ducked one of her tackles. She sprung back up, and looked between the two of us.

"What he say?" she demanded.

Hiccup crossed his arms with a sigh. "He explained to Sharp that stopping our fights is really useless."

Astrid snickered loudly before looking to her dragon. "Oh please, that ship has sailed!" she declared, taking Hiccup off guard as she leapt to tackle him.

He fell to the ground with a yelp, Astrid laughing. I chuckled a bit myself. Who needed little children when I had Hiccup and Astrid to watch?

**A/N: Well that was fun. I feel bad for making Astrid say that, hope you guys aren't mad! Hope you enjoyed, review and prompt for more ; ) Sorry I know it was short, next one will be longer.**

**God Bless! **


	2. What if?

**A/N: Ello'! I guess I should of mentioned that to understand some of these one-shots, that you would have to read my fist story, How to be a Pirate Meets the Movie. Stupid name: yes. Stupid story: you decide : ) Ok, so here's some good ol' Toothless and Hiccup friendship fluffy-ness. I don't know it just popped in my mind and BOOM! Here's the result : ) Next one-shot will be AstridxHiccup most definitely ; )**

_**What if?**_

_**Third person POV**_

"I'm gonna kill you dragon," Hiccup reassured himself, raising the dagger high above his head, "I'm gonna rip your heart out and bring it to my father!" He declared, not fully sure if he himself believed the statement.

The black dragon looked up at him with sorrowful eyes, locking gazes with the skinny Viking. Hiccup let his tension drop in the slightest, searching the dragon's gaze. He quickly shook his head. "I am a Viking," he said slowly, "I am a VIKING!" he declared, gaining confidence. He took a deep breath. He raised the dagger higher-higher-higher. . .

And plunged the dagger into Toothless's heart.

O~~~~~~O

Hiccup woke up in a cold sweat. He shot up right in bed, covering his mouth to muffle the scream that had threatened to escape. Without moving his hand from his mouth, he glanced around the room, slowly taking into realization it was just a dream. The dream he kept having over and over again. The one where he-he, he had killed-

He didn't finish it. He wouldn't finish the sentence. '_I would never kill Toothless. . .' _he thought to himself. He finally took his hand off his mouth, gripping the covers as if they would give him reassurance. _'But what if. . .'_

He looked down and squeezed his eyes shut. He was appalled with himself for having the dreams. He would never kill Toothless! Why was he dreaming about it all of the sudden? Why every night he found himself muffling his own screams and terrified for the life of his best friend? And he was starting to even consider his dragon just like an older brother, just like Toothless had always considered him a little brother. He wouldn't kill his brother. But why were his dreams telling him otherwise?

He searched the room. There he was. In the corner of the room he saw Toothless sleeping soundly, he wasn't bleeding, there wasn't a dagger in his chest, Hiccup's dagger wasn't in his chest. . .

_'Stop it!' _Hiccup commanded himself. He was tired of having to check in the middle of the night to see if his dagger was planted inside the dragon. It never would be! Why did he keep checking!

Hiccup slowly eased himself so he was sitting on the side of the bed. He leaned down and grabbed his prosthetic, careful to make sure the metal didn't grate against the wood. Delicately, he strapped the metal leg on. Looking back at the sleeping dragon, Hiccup slowly stood up. Tip-toeing with great care, he made his way to the steps. He took a deep breath, then heard the dragon shift in his sleep. Slowly he looked back to see Toothless had shifted on his side, still soundly sleeping. Taking a sigh of relief, he carefully made his way down the stairs and crept out of the house, shutting the door gently behind him. He was determined to stay awake.

Not before a Night Fury smirked at his rider's attempts to not wake him, though.

O~~~~~~O

Hiccup found himself wandering in the woods. He didn't know where he was going, he didn't care where he was going. Just walking would do. Walking was a good thing. It was a distraction.

The air was cool and crisp; with a hint of salt that thickened the closer you traveled towards the sea. Candle-light beams of moon barely shown through the dark forest. Other than that it was pitch black. Hiccup had been back there plenty of times before, and was sure he'd be fine. There was a lesser fear of dragons (though of course there was the occasional rogue dragon that would never accept humans), it wasn't storm season, nothing to worry about. Then again we were talking about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III here.

Hiccup got lost. _'Of course,' _he thought grimly. He had no idea where he was. The question was: did he care? He wasn't so sure. It kept his mind off of the dream. Then again he was lost in the woods, and nobody knew where he was. . .Maybe this wasn't as good as he had hoped it would be. Hiccup stopped right in the middle of the woods with a huge sigh. He took a look at his surroundings. Yup. He was lost. Big time. He couldn't tell what the land-marks exactly looked like because it was too dark. He couldn't navigate in the slightest.

Hiccup rubbed his arms, trying to warm them up. Winter was nearing and the nights were getting cold. He scolded himself for not thinking of bringing anything heavier than his vest. He sighed again, hanging his head. Folding his arms closer to his chest, he manned it up and kept walking.

Time was eventually lost. An hour maybe? Hiccup was guessing it was around that time since he had entered the woods in the first place. He was completely and utterly lost now. He was just hoping that if he didn't make it back by morning somebody would be looking for him. His stump was starting to hurt. He felt pathetic, acting like he had all the problems in the world. But he didn't know what to do, what do you do when you have nightmares of killing your best friend? Cause please, if you know Hiccup would really appreciate an answer right now.

"Oh good gods," he muttered to himself, tired of only hearing the faint sounds of the night, "why does this happen to me? Why me?" he hit a branch in frustration, and as usual, it swung back and hit his eye. "Ouch!" he cried, clutching the stinging eye. "Of course," he mumbled.

He thought about the dreams. He thought about the fact he was lost. He thought about his stinging eye. "Oh for the love of, please!" he now shouted, holding his hands up in surrender, but still walking, "Please, let me know you know I'm here! Why are you doing this to me! I would NEVER-!" he started, but to his dismay, he tripped.

Yelping in surprise, he barely had enough time to throw his hands in front of himself. He met the ground hard, groaning in annoyance. The gods really were hating on Hiccup that night. He heaved a sigh, getting on his knees and raising his head.

Then he noticed it.

Where he had fallen.

This was the place Hiccup found Toothless. Where he found his now best friend wrapped in _his _bola, where he nearly-

"No," Hiccup whispered, a lump rising in his throat. He clutched his hands into fists, raising them to his eyes as if to erase the images away. "I would never. I wouldn't! No. Why is this happening!" he cried, feeling pathetic, helpless, and honestly frightened. He would never ever admit it, but he was scared. Every time he saw his dagger plunged into Toothless's chest, he felt fear. He was scared now. He was lost, it was freezing, and now he was at the place where he almost made his nightmare come true. He pushed his fists farther into his eyes, begging for the images to go away. His breathing got ragged, he was getting hysterical.

He heard a twig snap behind him.

Hiccup flipped his head around, his fists falling to his sides and his eyes broad. "H-hello?" he asked, standing up. He picked at his fingers nervously when he heard movement just yards in front of him. "Who's there?" he said, his voice quivering. He heard a light growl.

Not wasting time, he sprinted down the hill; the only thing on his mind being get away from whatever it was. He looked back, wondering if whatever it was was following him. Next thing he saw when he looked ahead was the entrance to the gorge. Inches in front of him.

Hiccup gasped when his feet left the ground. He flung his arms wildly looking for something to grab onto. He yelled when he fully became air born. He braced himself for impact with the ground, closing his eyes. He waited. And waited. And waited some more. . .

_'Where the heck did the ground go?' _he thought, opening his eyes.

He looked down. There was a black tail wrapped around his torso. He slowly looked up, to meet the green orbs of a dragon. A Night Fury. Toothless.

Toothless eyed him suspiciously, not saying anything. Hiccup opened his mouth to explain, but instead gasped when Toothless jumped off the ledge and parachuted the both of them down with his wings. Hiccup gripped the tail, fearing that he would hit the ground hard. Instead Toothless lifted his tail up last second, hitting the ground first and gently setting Hiccup down. Toothless un-weaved his tail from Hiccup's torso. Hiccup stayed sitting up on the ground, his arms as a support and legs out in front of him. There was silence between the two.

_"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" _Toothless questioned, seeming annoyed.

Hiccup shrank back. "I don't know. . ."

_"Well you have to or you wouldn't be out here in the first place. You're lucky I followed you or you would've been lost for days," _Toothless trailed off.

Hiccup's head jerked up in alarm. Had Toothless heard him? "You followed me?" he barely whispered.

_"I'm a Night Fury Hiccup. Right when your prosthetic hit the wood floor I was up. I just followed you to make sure you were ok, giving you the time to yourself. But then you started talking. . ."_

Hiccup felt all color drain from his face. "What did you hear?" he demanded.

Toothless looked up at Hiccup with sad-filled eyes. He sighed. _"What would you never do?"_ he asked. Hiccup felt himself recoil. His breath caught in his throat. He didn't want to tell Toothless about the dreams. How would he react? Every possibility played through his mind, terrifying him. None of them ended good. Hiccup clutched the ground. He looked down, refusing to meet the Night Fury's fierce gaze. _"Hey," _Toothless said, _"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"_

"What?" Hiccup looked up for a moment, but shot his look back down to the ground, "No I'm not hurt."

_"Then what's wrong?" _Toothless urged, concern in his voice.

"Nothing."

_"You're lying. What's wrong?"_ Toothless questioned again, coming behind the boy and letting him lean against his flank. Hiccup reluctantly took the offer. Toothless noticed he was shaking. _"What's wrong?" _he pressed again.

"N-Nothing," Hiccup stammered. He would not tell Toothless what was wrong. He didn't care if the dragon got mad at him.

_"Hiccup," _Toothless said sternly, _"I saw everything you did out there. I heard everything you said. Now what's wrong?" _Hiccup stayed silent, shrinking into a ball. _"Tell me. You're worrying me!" _Hiccup shut his eyes, seeing every image of the dream. _"Hiccup are you ok? Hiccup! It's ok, nothing's wrong! Calm down, you look like you're about to pass out!" _Toothless rambled, trying anything to get the boy's attention or soothe him. Hiccup calmed down, staring blankly in front of him.

"I had a nightmare," he whispered.

Toothless cocked his head, confused. The boy was flipping out over a nightmare? _"It's only a nightmare," _Toothless replied, but still sounded slightly confused.

Hiccup heaved a sigh. "But you don't even know what it was about!" he whined, pressing his palms to his eyes, shielding the images from his mind.

_"Do you want to tell me?"_ Toothless asked, getting concerned as his young rider seemed to panic. Hiccup shook his head. Toothless sighed. _"Please? You're scaring me," _Toothless tried. He wanted to know what would get Hiccup in such a phase.

Hiccup dropped his hands to his sides. He turned so his side was resting against his dragon, letting his head rest on the warm flank. He heaved another sigh. He knew he would have to tell him eventually. He balled his hands into fists again. "I did it," he whispered.

_"Did what?"_

"When I first found you in the woods. I did it," Hiccup said, letting his face drop when he saw the still confused Night Fury, "I stabbed-I actually-I didn't want to-I-I," he stuttered, "I actually stabbed you. I didn't let you go, the knife went in your chest! I killed you!" Hiccup said, finding it hard to breathe at the end. Why don't you try explaining to your best friend, brother, that you had a dream where you plunged a dagger in their chest?

Toothless was shocked. He didn't expect that. Toothless softened his gaze, knowing why the boy had refused to talk. _"It's ok. You didn't actually do it. Everything's fine." _

Now Hiccup was confused. He expected different from Toothless. He wasn't sure what he expected; but he was sure it wasn't Toothless acting calm about it. "How can you say that? I've been having the same dream for nights! They won't stop!" Hiccup complained, feeling helpless. "What's wrong with me?" he asked, mostly to himself.

Toothless smiled lightly. _"Nothing's wrong," _he explained calmly.

Now Hiccup was annoyed. What? Nothing's wrong? Nothing's wrong! Was Toothless on the same page here? Normal people don't have dreams of killing their best friend! Not at all: let alone every night! Hiccup looked at his dragon. "What do you mean? Toothless, why am I having these dreams! I don't want to kill you. . ." Hiccup said slowly, a bit of an agitated tone in his voice.

Toothless rested his head on the ground, sighing deeply. _"Remember what I told you the first night we could actually talk to each other?" _Toothless inquired. Hiccup nodded. _"The queen gave me the same images of me killing you. Trust me, I thought something was wrong with me too. I most certainly didn't want to kill you, and that's what I had to keep telling myself. It's not me thinking it; it's my mind."_

Hiccup cocked his head, confused. "Well if it's your mind thinking it, isn't it the same thing?"

Toothless chuckled. _"In my opinion, no. The mind holds millions upon millions of thoughts; that never fully go away. From what you told me you used to want to bring down a Night Fury, correct?"_

Hiccup looked down, ashamed. "Yes," he whispered.

_"Well there's your answer. You can't control what gets planted into your mind. And the worst part is it never goes away. The real question is what do you think is right, what is your opinion, not your mind's. Does that make sense?" _Toothless said.

Hiccup nodded. He did understand. He used to think and dream about that every night before he met Toothless, his mind just hasn't adjusted yet. Hiccup smiled. "Thanks, Toothless."

Toothless chuckled. _"Anytime." _ Toothless sighed deeply, and laid his head on the ground. _"Now can we go back home and go to bed? I'm tired and don't want you wondering the woods. You'll get yourself killed, for the Gods sake," _Toothless commanded. But when he looked back Hiccup was already asleep. Toothless cocked his head, surprised. He wrapped his wing around the small boy. Satisfied, he laid his head back down and fell asleep.

Hiccup didn't have any more nightmares.

**A/N: Yeah. . .little more fluffy than intended. Did you like? Hope you did! FYI: If you did not read my previous story, Hiccup can now understand dragons. But only Hiccup. Ok, just wanted to make that clear. Read and Review, prompt for more, whatever floats your boat. Thanks for reading!**

**God bless!**


	3. Fish, Dragons, Trolls, Oh My!

**A/N: Ok. Astrid and Hiccup fans I am SO sorry. I know I said this would be a HiccupxAstrid, but I thought of this and HAD to get it down. I couldn't help myself. I really hope you guys like it, enjoy! ; )**

**Characters: Everybody!**

**Summary: Now that Hiccup has friends and a dragon, he never has to be by himself anymore! One question: is that always good? **

"_**I take him fishing and he goes hunting for-for trolls!"**_

_**Fish, Dragons, and Trolls, Oh My!**_

_**Third POV**_

Hiccup yawned. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was rare when Berk had those kinda days where all you wanted to do was bask in the glories of nature. The sun shone warmly, just the slightest of breezes that carried the earthy smell Hiccup loved so much across the land. Just a few clouds in the sky. Perfect flying weather. You just had that comfortable almost safe feel when there was weather like this. But was Hiccup flying? Was he enjoying this weather? Nope. He was fishing with his Dad and Toothless.

Hiccup yawned again. They had been here for hours, and nothing! Nothing happened. Hiccup glanced at the woods behind him. The trees and forest were calling him, he heard them whisper his name! Begging to be explored! The trees snickered and mocked him every time he heard the bristle of their leaves when the wind blew through. Hiccup grimaced.

"Got anything, Hiccup?" his Father asked him, noticing Hiccup getting distracted.

"Uhh," Hiccup said, quickly smiling his popular crooked-smile, "No, I just uh, was thinking. You know; just got distracted," he said, shrugging his shoulders lamely.

_"Oh please," _Toothless smirked, raising his head, _"I know you would much rather be in those woods right now. Don't you find this interesting, though?"_ Toothless said sarcastically.

Hiccup frowned. "Easy for you to say! You get to sun bathe!" Hiccup whispered, gazing at his dragon with great jealously. Toothless got to do what he always did in good weather; sun bathe. Toothless looked at him with lazy eyes, and stuck out his tongue.

"What was that Hiccup?"

"Nothing," Hiccup quickly replied.

Toothless snorted. Hiccup rolled his eyes. Hiccup's Father beamed; finally glad to be getting one-on-one time with his son. Hiccup on the other hand, this wasn't his idea of 'fun' exactly. It wasn't adventurous, it didn't get his brain thinking, it was just_ sitting _and _waiting._ Kind of like watching paint dry in his opinion. He would never tell his father, though. It would break his heart. Stoick was extremely over-protective with his one and only son ever since he watched him plummet into the raging fires that fateful day. He thought fishing was his best bet when it came to Hiccup's safety. But, just in case, he brought the Night Fury along if some mishap were to happen. And again, we were talking about Hiccup.

Hiccup sighed. He knew of his Father's concerns for his safety, which didn't help the matter in the slightest. And these past few months Hiccup felt suffocated. His Father wouldn't let him do anything, Astrid wouldn't let him do anything, and even Toothless was more protective than usual! That's saying something in Hiccup's opinion.

Hiccup sighed once more, letting his shoulders slump. All he could do now was dream about the woods and the luscious greens, over-whelming earthy smell, the-

He heard something to his right.

Was that; _snoring?_

Hiccup looked at his Father. Yup. He was asleep against a rock. Hiccup chuckled, finding the situation hilarious.

_"So much for Father /Son day," _Toothless mused. The bearded Viking let out one hearty snore in reply.

"At least I'm not the only one who was finding this activity rather dull," Hiccup said with a grin.

Hiccup set his pole down. Slowly, he tip-toed past his Father to Toothless. Hiccup smiled mischievously. Toothless rolled his eyes.

_"Won't your Father worry when he wakes up and you're gone? And then be mad latter and blame me for letting you run around? Why he blames me is a mystery. . ." _Toothless said, rolling his eyes once again at the last part.

"Aw, please? This is so boring! Don't you want to go explore the woods? Or at least do something productive!" Hiccup protested, making wild gestures.

"_Actually I'm fine just sitting here. . ."_

"Lazy," Hiccup muttered.

"_I'm not that lazy."_

"Yes, it's a beautiful day and all the tough, powerful Night Fury wants to do is sun bathe! Getting a little pampered, don't you think?" Hiccup said, crossing his arms.

Toothless made to protest, but didn't know what to say. He grumbled. _"I swear Hiccup, if we get into trouble you take blame!" _Toothless said, standing up.

"Deal!" Hiccup said, grinning ear to ear. Filled with joy, Hiccup and his dragon both made their way into the woods.

O~~~~~~O

Nothing. AGAIN! Hiccup was about to lose his mind. They had been wandering the woods for a while now, and they couldn't come up with anything fun to do. He heaved a giant sigh, giving up.

"Ok, Toothless, what do you want to do? We've been walking forever! And there's nothing to do!"

_"I have no idea! You're the man with the plan, usually! I'm not good at that stuff!" _Toothless said, looking at Hiccup expectantly. Hiccup palmed his forehead, sighing. They kept walking, not noticing where they were going of course.

They thought about flying. But, ever so strangely, they wanted something new. It was just old news now. They wanted something: Exciting! Adventurous! Daring! All of the above for the Gods sake! What could they possibly do that-

"Hey Hiccup, you hunting for trolls again?" Dogsbreath sang.

Hiccup sighed. He slowly turned around to see Dogsbreath and Snotlout; Dogsbreath smirking, Snotlout looking uneasy. Hiccup smiled. _'Just my luck_,' he thought. Toothless started growling and placed himself between the two. Hiccup would usually try to calm Toothless down, but honestly didn't feel like being messed with today. Maybe he'd actually find some entertainment in watching Toothless rip a couple limbs off Dogsbreath.

"Oh come on now, Hiccup! You can tell me if you're hunting for trolls again," Dogsbreath mocked, cocking an eye-brow. Hiccup grimaced, but kept the fake-smile. "You know, like that one gathering? Where your Father had found you setting up nets for _trolls?" _

He had never told anybody about hunting for trolls. NOBODY. Not even Toothless. It was embarrassing; he hunted for trolls because he had no friends. How pathetic could you get?

Toothless slowly looked back at him, looking completely confused. _"You hunted for trolls?"_

Hiccup let the fake-smile drop. Great. Now Snotlout and Toothless knew his little secret. He frowned, ashamed. He looked at the ground, begging for something to just pop out and erase everyone's memory. Toothless frowned, not ashamed of Hiccup but sympathizing the poor boy. He turned a hateful glare back to Dogsbreath and growled.

_"Leave if you would like to keep your arms."_

Dogsbreath chuckled. "Hmph," he hummed, satisfied, "Well obviously the cat wants me to go. Coming Snotlout?"

Snotlout looked back and forth between the two, letting his final gaze rest on Hiccup. "Naw, I'm gonna. . .uhhhhh, show Hiccup here how to be a real Viking! Uh, yeah! Grr!" he growled, although it entirely sounded fake. Hiccup narrowed his eyes confused, and shook his head.

Toothless scoffed. _"Night Fury vs. Fat Viking Child. Who will tap first!" _he said sarcastically.

Dogsbreath smiled. "Hm. Well have fun," he mused, and leaned in closer to Snotlout to whisper in his ear, "and give him one in the jaw for me." Snotlout smiled uneasily, nodding his head quickly. Dogsbreath left, satisfied.

Once Dogsbreath was out of site, he turned his attention to Hiccup. Hiccup kept his gaze plastered to the ground, not daring to look anyone in the eye. Snotlout frowned, feeling guilty. It was absolute silence between the two for a few moments, making Hiccup feel more uneasy and Snotlout worse. Snotlout took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Hiccup. About Dogsbreath, and stuff. . ."

Hiccup scoffed, looking up. "Yeah I could tell when you stood up for me, your cousin just in case you forgot, all those times Dogsbreath needed to make fun of, or punch, something."

Toothless glared daggers at the Snotlout. Obviously the dragon had not known of Dogsbreath punching Hiccup. His anger boiled, threatening to spill over at any second. Hiccup noticed, and laid a hand on the dragon's head.

Snotlout looked like he had been slapped. "He punched you?" Hiccup nodded slowly. "Aw man. I'm sorry! I didn't-."

"Wow. Aren't we friends, Snot?"

"What? Yes!"

"Then why do you hang out with him?"

"Cause he's my friend too. . . I'm sorry. So sorry couz," Snotlout apologized, holding his hands out and shaking them wildly, "Really! I had no idea he was that bad. I can talk to him, I will! Promise," Snotlout said. Snotlout felt uncomfortable apologizing a billion times, he wasn't one to show weakness. But Hiccup was his family and now friend, he felt horrible.

Hiccup sighed. "Yeah. Do whatever you want, Snot. It's ok," Hiccup said, trying to calm his cousin down a bit.

Snotlout sighed, knowing his cousin was lying. He opened his mouth to apologize again, but snapped it shut. They stayed quiet for what felt like ages, both boys staring at the ground while a certain Night Fury kept his lunging position, you know just in case. Snotlout slowly raised his head, looking curious.

"Sounds fun."

Hiccup's head shot up. "What?"

"Troll hunting. I think it sounds fun."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I went troll hunting because nobody liked me. Don't rub it in," he retorted, feeling bad about it the second it left his mouth.

"I wasn't rubbing it in!" Snotlout protested, feeling offended. "I actually think it sounds fun." Hiccup laughed, finding the statement amusing. "I'm not joking! I've been bored all day with Dogsbreath. Troll hunting sounds. . .fun!" Snotlout said, feeling surprised he thought it actually did sound fun.

"You think troll hunting, sounds, fun?" Hiccup said, not believing it.

"Yeah!" Snotlout said enthusiastically. Hiccup was shocked. His tough, prideful cousin, thought troll hunting sounded _fun. _He was too shocked to say anything. Snotlout still thought Hiccup was mad at him.

Snotlout shifted uncomfortably between his feet. "Can we. . .I don't know. . . go. . .troll hunting?" he felt awkward.

Hiccup was totally dumbfounded. He wanted to go troll hunting! "Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?"

"I'm serious!" Snotlout said, smiling.

Hiccup was still shocked. He just couldn't, couldn't believe it. Was this good or bad? He had no idea. He looked to Toothless, searching for advice.

Toothless smirked lightly, raising his eyes. _"I'm so in."_

Hiccup looked between the two, smiling. Snotlout rolled his eyes. He grabbed Hiccup's elbow.

"Uh, what are you-," Hiccup started.

"Shut-up. We're going to hunt us some trolls!"

O~~~~~~O

"Ok, so tell me if I got this straight, Trolls can turn into beautiful women, correct?" Snotlout asked, raising an eyebrow at his cousin.

Hiccup chuckled. The two boys and dragon crouched behind a boulder in the woods, one still totally shocked, the other as giddy as a child, and the dragon as curious as ever. "Yes. The only way you know they are trolls is if they have a cow's tail, it's the only thing they can't hide," Hiccup whispered.

Snotlout smiled. "Right! So when we see a potential troll pass by, you signal me, and I, with all my raw Viking-ness," Snotlout said, straightening his shoulders, "throw this net over them and BAM!" he said, raising the net up, "we've got ourselves a troll!" he finished triumphantly.

_"I'm surprised. This is actually really interesting! Why didn't you tell me about trolls before?" _Toothless asked, looking at Hiccup smiling his toothless smile.

Hiccup grinned and shrugged. "Yup. That's what it takes!" he confirmed to Snotlout.

Then they heard people talking in the distance. Snotlout brightened up, Hiccup felt uneasy. It was women's voices.

"Trolls!" Snotlout whispered, getting excited.

"Well, careful Snotlout, you never know-," Hiccup started, but Snotlout cut him off.

"Shh shh shh! They're coming! Ok, you look out and tell me when they come close enough and I'll use my awesome net-throwing skills to trap the hideous monsters!" Snotlout ordered.

"But Snot-"

"Look out Hiccup, they're coming closer!" Snotlout commanded, shoving Hiccup's head so he could peer out of the rock. Hiccup, despite feeling uncomfortable, was actually excited too. He didn't have to just talk to himself while troll hunting for once!

Hiccup heard the steps and voices slowly approach, the dried leaves and twigs cracking in protest each step. Hiccup smiled crookedly, still shocked this was actually happening. Then he heard the voices. _'Oh no. . .' _he thought.

They turned the corner and his fears were confirmed. He panicked and turned to Snotlout, who was ready to throw the net.

"Snotlout-!" he started, but upon hearing his name, Snotlout burst up shouting a war-cry and throwing the net over the 'trolls'.

"Snotlout don't its!"

"EAT NET, ugly trolls! Where's your cow tails!" Snotlout tossed the net over the two women. Both women squealed, surprised to see a net over them all the sudden. Snotlout bellowed with pride, feeling achieved. Then he saw the women. "Oh sweet Odin!"

"Snotlout," Astrid said, addressing Snotlout, "Hiccup, dear," she said, addressing Hiccup, "Why, in Odin's name, is there a freak'n NET on me and Ruffnut!"

"It's us, idiots! And what did you just call us!" Ruffnut shouted, outraged.

Hiccup and Toothless slowly came out from behind the rock. Hiccup and Snotlout stood a foot away from each other. They looked to each other, tense, and started chuckling nervously.

_"Dude, you two are so dead." _Toothless pointed out, as if they already didn't know. Hiccup mouthed a very fake thank you to Toothless.

"Well, you see-"

"It's actually quite funny!"

"Oh really?" Astrid said, her eyes broadening, "why don't you enlighten us!"

Snotlout looked at Astrid nervously. Shall I say terrified? He elbowed Hiccup. "Yeah," he quivered, "enlighten them couz." I think I shall.

"Geez," Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Thanks _couz,"_ he said sarcastically. "Well," he turned his attention to the girls, nervously chuckling, "you see. It's, ha, you're aren't going to believe this; ummmmmmmm. . .we. . .kinda. . .sorta. . .you know. . .thought. . .you were. . ." he coughed, then whispered, "trolls."

Astrid's and Ruff's mouth's both dropped. Then, ever so slowly, they turned into raged snarls.

"You WHAT!" Astrid screamed.

"What the heck is WRONG with you!" Ruffnut demanded, eyes blazing.

The boys helped the net off of them, hoping to ease the tension a bit. Boy, were they wrong.

"Well," Snotlout implied, "Nothing's wrong with a Troll-ness figure-"

Ruffnut stomped on his toe. Hard.

"OW! Well let me explain!" he protested, clutching his foot and hopping on the other one.

Astrid punched Hiccup's arm. Hard.

"AH! Astrid just listen!"

Both girls smacked the Night Fury upside the head.

_"Ow, hey! What did I-"_

"Ok," Ruffnut said, sounding annoyed. She put a hand on Snotlout's forehead, and lightly pushed. He fell hard. "Explain."

"Ouch! Again!" he growled, agitated, "we were Troll HUNTING!" he explained, letting go of his foot and holding out his hands.

Both girls mouth's dropped once again. They're faces slowly started to lose the red that had built up in their rage, and now they were just confused. Hiccup felt absolutely embarrassed now. Even his girlfriend knew about his secret! He felt the red rush to his cheeks and ears, he pulled nervously on his collar.

"You guys were what?" Astrid asked, looking to Hiccup.

His palms got sweaty. "Uh huh, well. . ." his throat tightened up.

"We were troll hunting," Snotlout explained, standing and brushing himself off. Both girls looked shock and confused again. "Yes. We were troll hunting. And it was _fun. _Yeah. Mhm. I said it. Troll hunting is fun!" he exclaimed, lifting his arms in the air.

Hiccup hit his forehead for the second time that day.

Astrid looked to Snotlout, then Hiccup. Then again. She smiled mischievously.

"So you were hunting for _trolls," _she said, circling around Hiccup. He tugged at his collar again, feeling unbearably hot. "How about that?"

Astrid stopped in front of him. Ruffnut came beside her, resting her elbow on Astrid's shoulder.

"Well?" she said.

"W-what?" Hiccup choked.

Both girls snickered. "Are you going to ask us to join you, or what?" Astrid said. Both boys were flabbergasted. Then Snotlout smiled, coming up to the girls.

"You guys are bored, too?"

The girls looked at each other. Then in unison: "Better believe it."

Hiccup chuckled.

O~~~~~~O

"Ok, I'm soooooo bored," Tuffnut complained, hanging upside down over his bed.

"Yeah, me too," Fishlegs agreed, slumping against the wall. They sat in Tuff and Ruff's room, bored out of their minds. They had been sitting there for at least an hour, they thought, arguing on who would decide what to do. Tuffnut didn't have Ruffnut to fight with, (all he knew was she was off with Astrid talking about girl crap), and Fishlegs ran out of books to read.

"Well what do you want to do!" Tuffnut asked, irritated.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" Fishlegs inquired.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know, what do you want to do!"

"I don't know, what do _you _want to do!"

"Hey idiots!"

Both boys turned to see Ruffnut standing at the doorway, looking annoyed. She rolled her eyes at the dumb expression on both boys faces. "I need all your left socks."

Now both boys were totally confused.

"What?" Tuffnut asked, cocking an eye-brow.

"Why?" Fishlegs asked, shaking his head.

"Yeah, we thought you were out with Astrid. . .Wait do socks even have a right and left?"

"Well I guess they do. . ." Fishlegs answered.

"Really? I thought it didn't matter. . ."

"I know, me too!"

"Oh gods, both of you shut-up and give me all your left socks!" Ruffnut interrupted.

Both boys turned to her. "_Why?" _

She smiled. "I'm troll hunting," she declared. Both boys looked at each other, and burst into laughter.

"Troll hunting? That's. . .kinda weird sis."

Ruffnut glared. "Yeah? Well it's funner than sitting around arguing who decides what to do for three hours! Now where in Thor's name is all your left socks!" she demanded.

Fishlegs and Tuffnut stared at each other again. Then both smiled broadly, getting excited.

"Dude, sign me up!"

"I'll go get Mom and Dad's left socks, too!"

O~~~~~~O

"Ok," Hiccup started, feeling VERY uneasy and clammy, "Well, now that we got new recruits," he gestured to the very anxious Fishlegs and Tuffnut, "guess we should go over the plan again. Right. Eh hem, so all the left socks have been place upon that net over there," he pointed to the nearly invisible net and the socks placed in the middle of it, "and the, uh, trolls, will, uh, come and try to steal them. What they don't know is that once they pick up one of the socks, and invisible line will be tripped, and when this line just so happens to be tripped, the net captures the troll and hoists him into the air, and-."

"Boom!" Snotlout interrupted, pounding his fist against the palm of his hand, "We got a troll!"

Hiccup laughed nervously. "Uh, correct."

"Dude!" Tuffnut piped up, "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier? Would've saved us a lot of trouble!"

"Well, I-"

"He was embarrassed," Snotlout cut in. Hiccup glared a little at him.

"Why?" Ruffnut demanded.

"Thought it was dorky."

"And it is," Astrid said, nudging Hiccup with her arm, "But that's what makes it fun!" Hiccup blushed furiously, shrinking. He chuckled nervously, pulling on his collar.

_"Hiccup you look like you're ready to pass out," _Toothless pointed out.

Hiccup bent down and whispered to him. "I am!" Hiccup complained. Toothless bellowed with laughter.

"Wait!" Fishlegs hushed everyone, "Someone's coming!"

"Troll!" Tuffnut automatically responded. Everyone put their fingers to their mouths and shushed him. They all got into hiding positions behind various trees to fit them all. Everyone (with the exception of Hiccup) waited anxiously, not daring to peak a head out to see. They listened intently, counting the steps the 'troll' took. Then it stopped.

Hiccup heard someone scratching his head. "Socks? What ar' thes' doin in the mittle of th' forest?" someone said with a very heavy Scottish accent. Oh no. Everyone knew who that was.

"Gobber, wait, don't-!" Hiccup shouted, shooting out from behind a tree, but it was too late. Gobber had picked up one of the socks, and with a very girlish cry was hoisted into the air and was now dangling from a tree in a net.

All six teenagers and one dragon stepped out from behind the tree's, mouth's gaping.

"Holy crap, it worked!" Tuffnut shouted, earning glares from everyone. Gobber growled, giving all the teens and the dragon the evil eye.

"Get. Me. Down. N'W!"

"YES SIR!" All scrambled, looking for a way to get their very peeved teacher down. Toothless watched the teens run around in circles and curse at each other when they bumped. He rolled his eyes. With the flick of his tail, he dislodged the rope holding the net in the air. With another girlish squeal, Gobber landed harshly on the ground. He cursed the Gods names and his 'idiot students'. Standing up straight, he brushed himself off and eyed everyone of them.

"LINE UP!" he commanded. All students did as told, not thinking about what would happen if they didn't. "N'W. You six are going to tell me why I was just hanging from a net in tha' there tree, or so help me-!"

"We were troll hunting!" Fishlegs peeped, not being able to take Gobber's stern words anymore.

Everyone slowly turned to Fishlegs, glaring. Fishlegs shrugged apprehensively. Gobber on the other hand: well he looked at his students stupidly.

"You six were _what?"_

"Troll hunting. . ." Hiccup whispered. Gobber's mouth went slightly slack.

"You confused me for a troll!"

"Well nothing's wrong with a troll-ness figure!" Snotlout defended. Gobber whapped him upside the head. "OW!" He rubbed the sore spot gingerly.

"Now, I understand why you six ar' troll hunting- they a nasty creatures- but confusing me fer one! Now we got a problem!" He bellowed, looking behind him and raising his hands in the air. He whipped back around and pointed at Hiccup. "And yoo!" Hiccup's eye's widened and he shrunk back a little. "Aren't you supposed to be fishing with Stoick? Does 'ee know what you'r' doing?" Hiccup shrunk back more, cheeks flushing.

"Well-I-uhh," Hiccup stammered, shrugging his shoulders. He laughed nasally, "It's actually a funny story! Uh," he tugged on his collar, "he was-."

"HEY LOOK AT THAT!" Tuffnut shouted.

"What? Where?" Gobber cocked an eye-brow, looking behind him.

Tuffnut and Snot ushered everyone the other way, and all six teens and one dragon took off running full-speed in the other direction.

Gobber turned around to see them gone. "Wha-?" he growled, realizing he had been tricked, "YOU SIX AND THAT BEAST GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Sorry Gobber!" Hiccup shouted back, "We, uh, got some other things to do!"

"Good excuse," Tuffnut said, smiling.

"Shut-up." Tuffnut elbowed Hiccup playfully, Hiccup grinned back. "And thanks for saving me back there, guys."

"No prob."

O~~~~~~O

"Dude this sucks! We haven't found any trolls!" Snotlout complained casually; as if it were something that he said everyday. All teens had trudged back to the village, a little disappointed they hadn't caught anything. They had waited until Gobber left and went back to retrieve the net. It was slung over Tuffnut's shoulder, who tugged on it with anticipation.

"Ok Hiccup!" he said, "What else do you know about trolls?"

Hiccup calmly clapped his hands together. "Well," he started, "I told Snotlout earlier that trolls can actually change into beautiful women. They usually did this to lure men into their caverns, and well, eat them. But: most did not succeed because trolls are dim-witted," he explained, looking at the group, "And when they change into a women, they cannot hide their cow-tales, and they usually forget it's even there; and that gives them away to the men."

"Wow, really?" Astrid asked, surprised.

"Well, yeah, you can read any story about it. . ."

"They have stories on trolls?" Fishlegs asked, getting excited.

"Yeah, tons," Hiccup answered. Fishlegs looked like a three year old in a candy-shop. Hiccup chuckled under his breath, surprised at his peer's curiosity in something that sounded so stupid before.

They came to the outskirts of the village, being met with the smells of dinner being made and fire burning somewhere. They walked in slowly. Tuffnut burst out from the back, jumping in front of the group stopping them with his hands.

"DUDE! What if some of the girls in the village are trolls?"

Hiccup was dumbfounded. "Wait, what? Tuffnut, seriously? We all know that-,"

"Oh my gods you're right!" Ruffnut exclaimed. Hiccup's mouth dropped. Did they just agree on something? It was the apocalypse! Run for your life!

"Dude, we have to find out!" Snotlout said, jumping up and down like a child.

"_He has a point! You have some weird girls in your village, Hiccup."_

Hiccup was shocked. "No, no no no! Not you, too, Toothless!" Hiccup was taken off guard when Tuffnut placed his hand on his mouth.

"SHHH! I hear someone coming!" He said, taking his hand off Hiccup's mouth. Hiccup felt himself being pulled behind a house by the others. They waited in silence, Hiccup getting clammy and nervous again while the rest of the teens were anxious. And then they heard it: a women humming. "I told you! That could be a troll! I bet it is! Ok," Tuffnut whispered, pulling the net off his shoulder, "Ruff, help me throw this net over them when they come by!"

"W-woah woah woah, wait! You don't know-!" Hiccup stammered. He was quickly hushed by the group. Hiccup nervously looked at all of them, knowing this was not good.

The humming grew closer. Tuffnut held up three fingers, slowly counting down. When he reached zero, both twins let out a war-cry, shooting out from behind the house and tossing the net on the unsuspecting victim.

"Show us your cow-tail, TROLL!" Tuffnut demanded.

"Ruffnut! Tuffnut! What in ODIN'S NAME are you two doing!"

Ruff and Tuff's mouth's dropped, horrified.

"MOM?"

Chaos broke out.

"TROLL!" Snotlout yelled, pointing at two women casually washing their clothes outside, a few yards away. They turned to him, looking confused.

"I got it!" Astrid yelled. And to Hiccup's horror she pulled out her ax from behind her back.

"Astrid, DON'T!" But it was too late. Astrid hefted the ax, sending it spiraling towards the women. Both women screeched, barely moving out of the way of the blade as it whizzed passed them. The ax had token the parchment of clothing out of one of the women's hands, and with a horrendous cracking noise plastered it to the wall of the house behind them. Astrid's hands flew to her mouth when she realized what she'd just done.

"What did I just do!"

"Nearly killed those two women, that's what!" Hiccup retorted.

"_TROLL!"_

All teens turned their attention to the dragon. They didn't understand him: but Hiccup did. Toothless began to open his mouth, and all realized what he was doing.

"Toothless STOP!"

"DON'T!"

And once again, too late.

Toothless shot a ball of blue streaming fire at a women who was just walking by. She screamed and jumped out of the way, the blue fire barely skimming her hair as she dove. And to make the matters ten-times worse, the ball of fire exploded on one of the giant torches that just so happened to be behind the women.

It impacted hard. The teens and dragon shoved their hands to their ears to muffle the giant explosion sound. And in disbelief, mouths gaping, they watched the torch fall down. Then on its side. And in what seemed like hours, watched it slowly slide it's way down towards the docks, destroying them in the process, and into the ocean. Déjà vu', much?

All teens and dragon had gathered in a line, flinching at the horrible cracking and smashing sounds the docks made when the giant torch had fell on it. Their mouths gaped like a fish-out of water's. They all turned to Toothless, glaring.

He nervously chuckled. _"Uh, oops?"_

"Eh hem." Oh no. Hiccup knew that disappointed cough anywhere. They all recognized the voice they heard on a daily basis.

They all turned to meet the blazing eyes of Stoick the Vast.

"Sorry, chief." (or 'dad' in Hiccup's case).

"What, did you 6-and you too beast!-think you were doing?"

They all looked at each other.

"Troll hunting. . ." they all muttered.

Stoick's mouth went slack. "Oh no. Hiccup, what did you do?"

Hiccup held out his hands as if to proclaim his innocence. "Wait, what! No, they _wanted _to go troll hunting! Their idea! I proclaim my innocence in the matter!" he declared.

Stoick shook his head. "I don't care! You all had a part in this!" As he said this, the rest of the group's parents (including the twin's mother, now free of the net) gathered behind Stoick, giving their children shameful looks. "Now. Your parents will deal with punishment! But you are no longer allowed outside today, only for dinner in the mess-hall! Understand?" he said sternly.

"Yes, chief," they mumbled miserably. Even Hiccup said chief instead of Dad.

"Now Hiccup. Why don't you explain why I woke up to find you missing, and then see your dragon knocking down the fire torches!"

"_Hey, in my defense, it was a total accident! I wasn't aiming for the torch, I was aiming for the girl in front of the torch!" _Toothless protested.

Hiccup bent down to whisper in his ear. "Bud, even if he could understand you, that wouldn't help at all."

Stoick tut-tutted. "Nope! Don't go talking to the devil, now, he can't help you!" he turned the grown-ups behind him. "Take your children home! Hiccup, you're going to get an ear-load boy!" And all teens were dragged off miserably by their parents.

O~~~~~~O

Hiccup and Toothless slowly trudged to the Hall. They entered to the bustling of Vikings cheerfully chatting and eating, except one table.

Hiccup came and sat with the rest of the group; Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. They were deathly silent. Good guess that their punishments was part of it. The silence was so thick between the teens, you could reach out and touch it. All looked ashamed, heads bowed, with just quick glances at each other. Then Tuffnut slowly raised his head.

"You know," he said quietly, "In my opinion," all teens looked to him, "That was so worth it!" he exclaimed at the end, finding his voice. All brightened up.

"Wasn't it!"

"I know!"

_"Agreed."_

"Oh gods! Did you guys see your mom's face when you threw the net over her? That made my day!"

And just like that the whole table was bustling with talk about trolls and how it was so worth the punishments. All looked at Hiccup with bright eyes.

"Why didn't you tell us about this sooner? We would've understood all your weird doings!" Tuffnut said, earning an elbow from his sister.

Ruffnut smiled at Hiccup. "I know! It's absolutely crazy," she leaned across the table and whispered to Hiccup, "I like that."

Astrid pulled Ruffnut back down by her braid. She smiled to Hiccup. "So, Hiccup, what else you got?"

All teens and dragon looked to Hiccup expectantly, eyes practically on fire with curiosity and excitement.

Oh ho ho, _this _was going to be fun.

Hiccup smirked. "Well. . ."

**A/N: WOOSH! That was a long one. I'm tired. Anyway, at first I was just going to make this Hiccup and Toothless, but what's the fun in that? The more the merrier! Yup. Next one will be AstridxHiccup. Promise. Wow. I really liked writing this even if I am tired now. Hope you guys liked it, read and review!**

**God Bless!**


	4. How to Ruin a Moment

**A/N: Ok. So here would be another one. Thanks to my reviewers and anyone who has alert'd or favorite'd this story, it means SO MUCH! I felt weird writing this one, please tell me how I did! **

**A special thanks to my AWESOME beta, Toothless-the-nightfury. Check out his story 'Blood of a Night Fury' and become a fan of the facebook page! You won't regret it!**

**Characters: Astrid & Hiccup**

**Prompt: Astrid and Hiccup have been going out for at least six months now. Oh wait, I forgot! Hiccup's Father is rather clueless when it comes to his only son. (Rated PG-13, for a not so big reason, but this is still more mature than the rest of my drabbles).**

_**How to Ruin a Moment**_

_**Third POV**_

Hiccup laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling and tapping the bed post. He was actually thinking about a way to improve Toothless's tail fin, as he usually did when the boy found he had spare time. Said dragon was out hunting right now - Hiccup gladly refusing the offer when Toothless invited him along. He never liked to watch.

There was a knock at his door.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup shot up in bed - it was Astrid.

"Hiccup?" she sang again, "Your Father said you were in here..."

"Uh," he slowly stammered, "Come in!"

Astrid opened the door, meeting Hiccup with a playful grin. "Finally."

"Uh," he said, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry, I was kinda dazing. Again."

She smirked. "Of course you were. If you weren't then you wouldn't be Hiccup," she said, matter-o-factly.

Hiccup turned to let his legs hang over the side of his bed, patting next to him inviting Astrid to sit. She gladly took the offer, plopping down on the bed next to Hiccup, smiling at the boy. She laughed inwardly at his goofy lop-sided grin. They sat in silence for a moment, Hiccup waiting for her to start a conversation, but Surprisingly, she didn't.

"Umm, is there something you want to talk about?" he asked.

"No," she replied, "can't I just hang out with my boyfriend?"

"Well, I, um," he stuttered, "yeah, of course we can just hang out."

She grinned, satisfied. "Good… Hey, where's Toothless?"

"Hunting."

"You didn't go?"

"No, I don't enjoy seeing my best friend torment little animals and then slowly eat them," Hiccup joked.

Astrid giggled. "Poor, pacifist Hiccup. Never truly the Viking!" she said jokingly. All Hiccup did was smiled crookedly back. Astrid smiled at her boyfriend, but seeing the silly grin on his face she couldn't help but snort a little.

"What?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Your face," she half-said half-laughed.

"Well geez, thanks!"

"No no no! I mean that goofy grin you always have," she explained.

"What? You don't like it?" he asked, smiling.

"It makes you look funny," she said. He kept the crooked smile anyway, eyeing her. She snorted again. "Stop it! You look weird."

"I can't! I smile like this when I'm happy! You want me stop being happy?" he asked sarcastically. She shook her head, inching closer to the boy.

"No," she said slyly, "but I can help with the smile," and with that, Astrid smashed her lips onto Hiccup's.

She kissed ferociously, taking Hiccup off guard. His eyes widened, surprised with the attack. Calming down, he closed his eyes and kissed back. They leaned closer to each other; Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccups neck, smiling as she kissed. Hiccup felt himself leaning even closer, until something went wrong. '_What is that?' _he thought.

'_Oh, that's her tongue.'_

Hold the phone!

Stop the presses!

_ 'Wait. Her what?'_

Hiccup instantly pulled back, feeling uncomfortable. His face felt hot and his ears were burning. Astrid cocked her head, smiling with bright eyes.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Well," he gulped, "it's just-I-we've-never really gone that far yet, heck I wasn't even totally sure we were a couple," he mumbled the last part, "and-"

"Shut-up." Hiccup snapped his mouth shut, feeling like he hurt her, but then she smiled. "I'll help you," she said. Astrid then stood up, putting her hand on Hiccup's shoulders… Hiccup's eyes widened, his whole face being consumed with a red blush. The girl smirked, positioning herself side-ways on Hiccup's lap. "Now," she explained calmly, "I'll sit like this. . . and _you,"_ she instructed, grabbing Hiccup's hands, "put your arms around my waist like this. See?" Hiccup gulped, his throat feeling very dry, but he nodded wearily. "Good," she grinned, showing her teeth, "and I'll put my hands on your shoulders like _this. . ._and then we try again."

Her lips smashed against Hiccup's, her eyes closing contently. At first he muffled, surprised once again with her ferocity, but then he gained confidence, and smashed his own lips against hers with the same amount of force. He closed his eyes and She smiled, both satisfied. Hiccup felt himself smiling too, wrapping Astrid closer in his arms. She moved her hands to his head, running her fingers through the auburn-locks. Both were in pure bliss.

But then there was the creak of a floor-board.

He squeezed his eyes, convincing himself it was just the house settling. But he felt something-a present. It wasn't a ghost. . .that'd be just weird. He looked at the door.

"MPFFFH!" Hiccup muffed, his eyes nearly bulging out of his sockets. He stood up, making Astrid fall indignantly to the ground with a surprised yelp, looking up at Hiccup furious.

"Hiccup! What the-,"

"Astrid! Oh gods, I'm sorry!" Gasped Hiccup, who immediately bent down and picked her up.

"What was tha-!"

Astrid had started, but looked at Hiccup gazing horrifically at the door. She narrowed her eyes, confused, slowly following his stare towards Hiccups door.

OHHHHHHHHHH Odin.

"Oh good GODS! Chief Stoick!" she shouted, horrified. "Uhhhhhh," she stammered, still in shock. Quickly she shook her head and put her fist on her heart, bowing.

Stoick on the other hand just stood there, looking stunned, mouth gaping, eyes wide and burning holes into the two. Hiccup thought he was going to crumble in the awkward silence. Astrid was ready to run full-speed out of there. Stoick... well, he was a different story.

His mouth was still hanging. He narrowed his eyes in thought, putting two and two together and having trouble being the narrow-minded Viking most men were - poor, clueless old men.

"Are you. . ." he began quietly. Eyeing the two, he stuck up his two pointer fingers, and brought them together. He turned his head, still keeping his eyes on the two. "Together?"

Hiccup's shoulders slumped, his jaw dropped to the ground. _Seriously? _His Father was too dumb to see that they had been, _what_, together – at least slightly - 6 months ago!

"_Yes. Yes! _Very much so!" he scoffed, though it sounded more like a nervous chuckle, "Why-how-you didn't know?" Hiccup asked, confused, whilst Astrid stayed silent, blushing deeply.

But Stoick didn't hear a word he said… "Oh thank the Gods! My son's got a woman!" he bellowed, rushing over to pick up his only child off the ground and rejoicing in the so-called _miracle_. "And Astrid Hofferson at that! Oh Gods, we'll make a man of you yet!"

Astrid stifled a giggle at that. Hiccup glared lightly at his Father. "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" he whined, "Where have you been the past six months!"

Stoick kept rambling. "This is great! Fantastic! I'll start planning the marriage ceremony! Astrid can wear your Mother's dress, Hiccup! And-"

Astrid slammed her hand to her mouth, doing her best not to burst into laughter. Hiccup eye's widened. "DAD! What-why-what! Who said we were getting married? Dad, Daaaad, DAD! PUT ME DOWN!"

Stoick stopped talking, acknowledging his son. "What was that, son?"

Hiccup was going to shout, but took a deep breath, calming just the slightest bit. "Put. Me. Down. Please," he added.

"Oh."

Stoick gently put his son down, aware of the fake leg and watching it closely. Knowing Hiccup was safely on his feet, he smiled at the boy and Hiccup sighed, putting on a fake smile in return. His eyes glanced at the door.

Stoick just beamed.

Hiccup was getting agitated, expecting his Father to take a hint and leave. Not that he was mad at him or he didn't want to see his Father, he just was kinda. . .well you all know.

Hiccup coughed; "Eh hrm. Yup. We're going out. Mhm. . .well! Uh, why don't you. . .uhhhh, leave?" he whispered the last part.

Stoick looked confused. He cocked his head. Hiccup raised his eyebrows, looking at Astrid then back to Stoick. Stoick looked between the two, before he finally caught on.

"Ohhhhhhh!"

"Yeah," Hiccup muttered.

"Mm. I see."

"Kinda busy. . ."

"Well! You two have fun then! Uh, I won't bother you anymore, yup. Uhh, should I lock the door. . . Are you that far?"

"NO!" both teens shouted at the same time.

"Oh, well, you just continue what you were doing. Yup, have fun. See you later then, Hiccup," Stoick said, walking towards the doorway.

"Yeah, see you, uh, Dad," Hiccup said.

Stoick waved bye, and then exited Hiccup's room. Hiccup and Astrid stopped and stared at each other for a few moments, feeling entirely exposed and awkward. Hiccup heaved a giant sigh, knowing the moment was ruined. _'Great,' _he thought bitterly. Astrid wasn't feeling any better herself. _Finally_ Hiccup gained the ounce of confidence Astrid was waiting for, _finally_ making a move, and Stoick ruined it. Astrid was blushing horribly, and she knew it. And hated it. Hiccup was used to the blushing feeling now.

"I'm sorry Astrid. I know, my Dad kinda ruined it, but he is good-hearted! You just got to catch him at the right times, and then be very delicate and: wait. Sorry that's not the point," he rambled. That's when Astrid knew Hiccup was really embarrassed. He always rattled on about entirely different things as if to avoid the reason he felt embarrassed in the first place. "But anyway," he continued, "I'm sorry, again. You can go home if you want to. . ."

Astrid smiled at him - "Shut-up Hiccup".

She leaned towards him, lightly kissing his lips. A wave of relief washed over Hiccup; he was almost expecting her to find some way to get mad, but instead Hiccup found her wrapping her arms around his small neck again, grinning slightly. Hiccup lightly grabbed her waist and she was _about_ to knock him over, but didn't. He was finally starting to calm down when _it _happened.

_"Hey Hiccup! I'm back!"_

_ 'Oh no.' _Hiccup thought, his eyes flashing open. He tried to pull away, but a certain blonde wasn't having any of it.

_"You should have come! I got probably the fattest rabbit that-" _ Toothless rambled, not noticing the two at first as he insensitively leapt up into the window ledge of Hiccup's bedroom. Toothless was looking downwards to watch his footing on the small ledge; _"-oops... Almost fell there, and anyway-," _he continued. Finally the black dragon looked up. His eyes immediately widened, and he lost his footing on the window. _"Oh good Gods!" _

And then Toothless fell out of the window.

Yup.

Uh-huh.

Astrid finally noticed Toothless after she heard his horrified yelp as the dragon laid eyes on them. She whipped her head towards the window just in time to see Toothless fall out.

She puckered in lips, very annoyed. She heaved a giant sigh, letting go of Hiccup's neck.

"Yeah. Moment officially ruined," she said grimly.

"Uh-huh. So I'll see you tomorrow?" Hiccup said casually.

"Yeah," Astrid whispered with an annoyed tone in her voice.

"K."

And then Astrid left, Hiccup longingly listening to her foot-steps walk down the stairs. He hung his head, palming his forehead. But then he heard light foot-steps running back up the stairs. His head snapped up, and he looked hopefully towards the stairs.

"And Hiccup?" Astrid said, letting only her head poke in.

Hiccup grinned. "Yeah?"

"Love you!" she said with a bright smile.

Hiccup felt like he was flying.

"Love you too."

**A/N: Geez, I kinda feel weird writing make-out scenes. Did I do good for my first ever one? I feel kinda dirty. . .humph. Anyway, this just popped its way into my brain and here's the result. Hope you enjoyed! Read, Review, and prompt, please!**

**God Bless!**


	5. Shadows

**A/N: HEEEEEEEY! Guess what? It's October! Only 14 more days 'till HTTYD is out on DVD! YAY! With a new adventure, may I add! XD**

**Ok: So this drabble is actually how the **_**book **_**How to Train Your Dragon ended. The movie and book are VERY different, but both equally cute and touching. Plus, I also liked the end to the book, and wanted to share it. SOOOOO. . .I made it into a one-shot, with my minor tweeks to make it work. Well, they aren't minor, but aren't big either. This is still sorta how the book ended.**

**Again: check out Toothless-the-nightfury's stories! They are awesome! Plus he's an awesome beta!**

**Characters: Hiccup and Toothless (friendship!)**

**Summary: "My heart shattered. I wanted to cry, I wanted to sob. I had outlived him. It wasn't supposed to be this way; riders don't outlive their dragons! Toothless took the impact, and I lived. But he-he- was gone. My best friend was gone."**

_**Shadows**_

_**Hiccup's POV**_

It had been my idea.

"Oh, come on Tooth!" I begged.

_"You know I don't like it when you call me that. . ."_

"I'm sorry, but please? It's just a little rain, and the flowers are on the other side of the island!" I reasoned.

Astrid's birthday was in two days; and being her boyfriend I wanted to get her something special. She had always told me (or hinted) around the time of her birthday of this blue and red flower that grew on the other side of the island, how much she adored the fierce colors. I was yearning to get them for Astrid to please her, _but_ it was raining. Toothless had no problem when flying in the rain - it's perfectly safe for him; he was worried about me and my metal leg. And as we all know metal and water usually don't mix. But did that subdue my stubborn attitude? Not a chance.

"Pleaaase? She'll love them, and it's barely drizzling anyway!" I whined, earning a roll of the eyes from Toothless. I pouted. "Come on, Please?" I begged once again. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, trying to avoid my pleading face. The dragon clicked his tongue, eyes meeting the sky once again.

Toothless looked at me with agitation etched on his features. _"Hiccup I swear-," _he started, shaking his head, _"no matter, you won't listen anyway. I'll take you, but only because I don't want you walking there. Only the Gods know what you'll do to yourself if you do that," _he said, muttering the last part.

My smiled reached my ears, and I scratched the dragon in his favorite spot. "Thanks buddy!"

But that's all it took. One bad idea.

We were soon in the air; it was cool and light, the kind of atmosphere that sent that certain chill or shiver rattling up your spine. The drizzling of the rain made it hard to see, frustrating me to no end, but luckily Toothless could see; I just had to control the pedal. We hadn't been flying long at all - just a mere ten minutes, maybe fifteen - but the rain took a turn for worse, right as we were flying over the ocean, with nowhere to land. And just like that, the simple spring rain had erupted into a raging and fury-full storm. Joy.

Thunder burst through the air, practically shattering my ear-drums. The lightening was nearly blinding, illuminating the dark-puffed clouds and turning the sky almost purple. Toothless was going nuts - his sensitive ears couldn't take the thunder and his well-trained eyes couldn't take the stinging light. I pressed myself down, trying to block the wind and rain from my eyes so I could see and get us out of the fury of the storm. Toothless roared in pain when another shout of thunder crashed.

I placed my hand on his neck, trying to comfort him, "It's ok, buddy, it's ok! I'm sorry, I'll get us out of here!" I tried to reassure, but all the dragon heard was thundering, and he couldn't handle it.

Little did I know that placing my hand on his neck had been a mistake – my biggest yet. It caused me to lean forward, only slightly, but the rain had made my prosthetic wet and slick.

Wet metal against wet metal.

Toothless suddenly surged to the left, withering in agony at another blast of thunder, and my prosthetic slipped out of the pedal. I yelped in surprise and panic as I jerked too far to the side, and off of Toothless's back, the harness snapping with the abrupt change of weight, and I was plummeting through the air.

I clawed and grabbed desperately at nothing. This was worse than the first time I had fallen off Toothless's back; now it was storming and Toothless was in pure pain. Through his agonizing surges of torture, he barely caught a glimpse of me plunging to the earth.

I remember his eyes widening in terror.

I remember the determined yet pained slit pupils as he dove towards me, flapping his wings behind him to catch up.

We were now both falling uncontrollably. Toothless wouldn't have been able to fly without me anyway, but maybe he would have glided-he could have glided-but he didn't. He chose to fall with me.

"Toothless!" I shouted over clashes of thunder. Out of terror or to tell him to forget about me, I'll never be sure. I want it to be the latter - I really do, but in that situation… well even you would've been terrified for your own life plus the life of your best friend's. He growled in frustration, roaring at the skies and cursing them in his Gods names. Toothless pumped his great Night Fury wings once again, closing some distance between us. Though that wasn't what I wanted him to do, he didn't understand. The ocean was getting closer. I could taste the salt in the air, could feel the massive presence of it coming closer, closer.

Toothless was nearer now. I reached out a hand towards him, it barely inches away from his snout. But still inches away, no matter. Toothless flinched as it thundered again, squeezing his eyes shut at the striking amount of light that enveloped us for a little few seconds. He looked at me again, eyes softening and glazing over. With all his might, he pumped his wings one last time, closing the distance between us.

He put his forearms under my back, pulling me towards him like he had when we were falling into an ocean of fire, instead of an actual ocean of water. Now we were just fifty feet from the harsh sea, but falling at a rapid pace. I didn't have time to get on his back. Slowing us down with his wings wouldn't have done much. I felt helpless - useless even. Instead of trying to save himself, Toothless wrapped both wings around me, and with a quick turn flipped his back towards the water, so I was facing up.

_And he would take the full effect_

I actually started struggling. Yes,_ struggling_. I panicked, I didn't know what to do! He wrapped his forearms tighter, nearly digging his claws into me as a sign to stop.

"DON'T! You won't be able to take the impact!" I screamed, making my lungs burn.

_"I know," _my best friend barely whispered, not fully intending me to hear it.

But then we hit the water, and everything went dark.

And now I stare at him with blurred eyes, as his life slowly slips away.

I don't know if we were lucky. There were some good parts, but other parts were bad enough to totally eclipse any source of good that we earned. A good thing was we weren't _too _far from shore, and someone had noticed us. Another good thing was that we were close enough to shore that it didn't take too long for them to get to us, at least that's what they tell me. I was unconscious. But, landing so close to the shore had that one downside.

**That one downside that shadowed anything remotely good. **

**We were **_**too**_** close to the shore, so the water wasn't that deep.**

As I said before, water isn't a cushion. Not even slightly. But the fact we had been so close to the coastline, and the fact the bottom of the sea was rock, ruined everything. I didn't get hurt at all. Just a minor concussion, _if that,_ but Toothless was a whole other story. His spine was broken. The rocks at the bottom had grazed the top of his head, which had been shielding mine. Scales were broken off. I could see his skull. Even his skull was scratched.

I now sat with him in the healer's hut, all alone. Toothless was still alive, but his breathing was rasp and broken, not to mention light and quiet. You could almost hear his breath slipping out of him with each rise and fall of the great dragon's chest. My heart felt like a million tons of cold, hard stone. This was _all _my fault. **I** wanted to go flying, **I** wanted to go flying **even** with Toothless's warnings and protests! Toothless **protected me** from the impact. **I didn't have a scratch** because **he had taken them for me**.

And now he was dying.

No one expected him to live. I hate to admit it; I just want to rip my heart out for just thinking it! But-I didn't expect him to live either.

We had crashed into the water three days ago. Toothless had rarely woken up, and when he did it was just for a few seconds with some mumbled words I couldn't understand. He lay eerily still on a wooden table, the only thing he could really fit on. I sat on a chair next to the wooden table, letting my head lay next to his body, and I made sure to keep my hand on his snout. I don't know why, but having my hand there was a comfort. And no, I didn't cry. Why you ask? Because it meant excepting the fact that Toothless was going to die. And honestly I wasn't ready for that yet.

It was nearly midnight. The full-moon's luminosity seeped through the cracks in the window, barely drifting down to rest on Toothless's back. Candles were lit everywhere, giving the room a false warm glow. Walk in the inviting room and you would've been peaceful, and happy. Then you would've seen the beat-up dragon on the table, and whether you knew him or not your heart would sink into nothingness. And just like that the warm glow was gone; the beams of moon provided no ease whatsoever. Everything was replaced by the frightening shadow of knowing that someone was dying in the very room you stood.

I gingerly ran my fingertips up and down his snout. He shifted, giving a pained whimper that would break anyone's heart. I heaved a shaky sigh, feeling myself drown in guilt and sorrow.

"How is he?" a sweet, gentle voice whispered, walking into the room and by my side with light footsteps only a warrior could master.

By breath caught, I didn't feel like talking. But I did anyway. "I don't know, Astrid," I barely whispered. I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye, looking at Toothless with a pained expression.

She opened her mouth to say something, but it snapped shut with such a force that it looked like it would've hurt. She reached out and placed a hand on Toothless's back. I watched as her arm tensed and shook when she felt how cold the usually warm skin was. Her mouth even dropped slightly, and I heard her take a nervous breath. She looked to me.

"Is he going to be ok?" she whispered.

I raised my head to look at her for a few seconds, but didn't know what to say. So I laid my head back down, and didn't say anything. I glimpsed at her as she bit her lip hard, eyes widening in the slightest. We were both at a loss.

I hadn't told Astrid why were we flying the in the first place - what would it do to her? Sure Toothless wasn't her dragon, but I'm certain they secretly valued each other, even if they didn't like to admit it at times. I honestly had no clue how she was dealing with it; was she ok with it? Did she care? Is she hurt? From what I just saw, and just from that look in her aqua-colored eyes, it was the third one.

Astrid's head turned to me, looking alarmed, as if she had just realized something. "Are you ok?"

There's the question. I drew in another shaky breath, feeling the tears break into my eyes, though none fell. "No," my voice cracked.

Her hand slowly slid off of Toothless's back. Astrid faced me with her face full of despair and hurt. She took a step towards me, grabbing my shoulders and making me stand. Her arms wrapped around me in a tight hug. At first I was dazed, and didn't know what to do back. But then I felt the weight of the situation finally drop hard and I wrapped my arms around her, shaking. We stood like that for who knows how long, trying to find the slightest bit of comfort in each other.

_"H-H-Hiccup?"_

We both turned around so fast I nearly fell. Toothless stared at us with pained fogged eyes, squinting as if to interpret his surroundings. Toothless was awake, he was awake! Astrid smiled bigger than I've ever seen her smile. Happiness bubbled inside me, I felt nearly giddy with joy! He was awake: this was a good sign!

"Toothless!" I exclaimed. Astrid stepped back and I practically fell back on the chair, resting both hands on the dragon's head. "How you feeling buddy? Are you ok? Are you in pain? I can go get you something, just one sec!" I babbled, getting lost in my own words. Astrid stood at the other side of him with the same huge smile, her hand resting on his back. I made to get up and get some pain medications the healer had made, but he stopped me.

_"No," _he whispered, looking at me with glazed eyes.

"No?" I asked, nearly chuckling with confusion, "What do you mean no?" Toothless eyes were lost. Astrid's smile dropped, as she realized something I dare not think. "Toothless what's wrong? Why-what-are you ok? Y-You need the pain herbs. They'll help! They can help! Just give me one second!" I begged, knowing full well what was going on. I found it hard to breath, and I was soon hyperventilating. I was trembling uncontrollably, my face was stinging and felt hot.

_"No," _he repeated, _"I don't want a-any herbs. They w-w-won't help," _his voice strained.

I moved from the chair and stood in front of him so I could look him in the eye. I kept my hands on the side of his snout still, finding the comfort I had before. "Y-yes they will! What do you mean they won't? Toothless!" my voice broke mid-sentence. It was as if my throat was closing in, and with it my hope.

He didn't say anything at first, just kept the fake reassuring gaze on me, trying to reassure me. What kind of a comfort was that? It wasn't helping; I knew what was going on! I looked at him hard, and finally he knew full well he wasn't helping. He sighed, the breath coming out shakily. _"Everything's going to be fine."_

I scoffed, frowning deeply. "What? Everything's going to be fine? Everything's going to be fine! Toothless no! What do you mean? You're scaring me!" I trembled.

_"Everything's going to be fine," _he repeated quietly.

And then I knew. I knew what my dragon meant. "Toothless! No, please, don't! Toothless, come on buddy, stay with me, please!" I urged, the tears coming so close to escaping my eyes I couldn't even see straight. "Not again," I whispered, "please not again, not like my mother!" I choked.

_"Everything's fine."_

And then he took one final breath. And his eyes closed. And his body went limp.

But I refused to believe it.

"Toothless?" I asked quietly, "Toothless? _Toothless! No! Buddy, __wake up! WAKE UP! __**Please! Toothless, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry,**__"_ I whimpered, "**Please wake up! TOOTHLESS**!" I wailed, feeling the tears finally fall down my cheek mockingly. But then I heard it. Astrid weeping and sobbing. And then I knew he was gone, gone. . .forever. I let the tears flow, feeling myself sob pathetically. I fell on Toothless's head, feeling weak and unstable. I wrapped my arms around his head as if that would hold on to his life.

But I knew it wouldn't.

**"****TOOTHLESS****! Wake up! Gods, please WAKE UP!"** I wailed again, begging for him to awake. But he stayed silent, and still, and cold. His body was ice.

And for the second time, in my whole life, just like when my mother died, I wept.

O~~~~~~O

Silence.

Sorrow.

Despair.

Hurt.

Loss.

And it was my fault. Those five words played in my head over and over again. Taunting me, mocking me. 'Silence, sorrow, despair, hurt, loss. Silence sorrow despair hurt loss. Silencesorrowdespairhurtloss!'

They eventually jumbled together, and I couldn't even understand them anymore. I sat cross legged right in the middle of the training arena, basking in the silence and lack of people. I didn't want to see anyone. I couldn't handle seeing anyone. Today was Toothless's funeral.

And I wasn't going.

You have _no idea_ how much I wanted to go, and pay respects to him and thank him in spirit for being there for me, and how much I just wanted to apologize. It should've been _me_ who died, not him. I knew it. People tell me otherwise, but I know it should've been me. I don't care what they say. I wasn't going because I wouldn't have been able to handle it… Seeing my dragon's lifeless body float out to sea, watching archers shoot arrows of fire at the boat in respect, and then watch the ship and my best friend sink to the rocky bottom that caused all this despair and pain. Tears collected in my eyes just thinking about it.

Nobody was at the training arena. Nobody would bother me there. I sat still, and quiet. Barely breathing normally. I hadn't worked in the shop for days. Heck, I haven't even left the house. Just wallowed in my own self-pity. I felt pathetic - 'Hiccup the Useless' was rearing his ugly head again, but I didn't pay any mind.

I traced circles into the dirt, feeling lost and dazed. I was never _fully _there ever since Toothless died right under me. Only my body, not my mind. Finally I wasn't getting 'are you ok?' or 'I'm so sorry!' or 'you poor child!' and I wasn't getting hugs from people who barely knew me, just out of pity. I needed this time alone, or I would've gone insane.

Just to top everything off, I heard familiar light footsteps behind me.

"You're not at the funeral." It wasn't a question, it was a grim statement.

I sighed, yearning for the silence to take back over. "No, I'm not," I replied.

Astrid walked the rest of the way so she stood in front of me, hands on her hips and a _very_ stern, angry expression on her face. "Why?" she demanded.

I bit my lip, so hard I tasted copper. My eyes welled up and the tears were back. "I wouldn't be able to handle it."

She scoffed - "Yeah? Yeah? Well I'm sure Toothless would be at your funeral! Ever think about that? Huh!" she challenged, anger spilling out from all sides, "He was there for you, Hiccup! For GODS sake, you should be there!" she shouted.

I squeezed my eyes shut, digging my nails into the ground. I stood up, now gathering an anger I had no idea was being kept inside me. "I KNOW I SHOULD! I know it should've been me that died, I know it was all **my** fault," I screamed, voice trailing off and trembling, "But I can't do it. I can't Astrid! I can't watch them sink a ship with my best friend's dead body on it! Oh Gods, what do I do!" I screamed. I was confused, and hurt, and guilty. Astrid looked confused at first, then hurt, and before I knew it we were hugging each other once again.

"There you guys are! Geez, we heard you yelling from the woods!"

We turned to see Ruff, Tuff, Fishlegs, and Snotlout entering the arena. They had been gone on a hunting trip for a week, and didn't know.

"Yeah, what you do now Hiccup?" Snotlout joked. I felt myself shaking again, digging my teeth deeper into my lip. Ruffnut laughed loudly, finding Snotlout hilarious.

Astrid stalked over to her, pulling on her braid so she could whisper in her ear. Ruffnut's face was shocked, mouth dropping and eyes wide. She was totally taken off guard. The rest saw this, and looked at her confused.

"What is it, sis?" Tuffnut asked, stepping towards her. Astrid released Ruff's braid, stepping back with a grim expression and arms crossed.

Ruffnut stepped towards all of them, putting a hand up to block her mouth as she whispered, "Toothless died saving Hiccup!"

Astrid thumped her head. "He can hear you, idiot!" she hissed.

Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs now all had the same expression Ruffnut had. Snotlout stepped towards me, eyes full of sympathy. "I'm sorry couz. I know how close you two were," he apologized.

As if it would help.

"Yeah," Ruffnut agreed, stepping to me also, "I don't know how it would feel to lose my dragon, so I won't pretend to, but I'm sorry. You two were especially close," she said, actually sounding too apologetic and calm to be genuine.

"You ok, Hic?" Tuffnut asked. Fishlegs didn't say anything, just looked disoriented as he stared at the ground.

"No," I stated darkly. I softened my expression when all looked hurt and confused, "They're having his funeral right now," I muttered.

"You aren't going?" Snotlout asked, slightly shocked.

"No, I'm not. I don't want to talk about it," I explained, getting a nod of understanding from everyone.

"Wait!" Fishlegs exclaimed, eyes popping. He was finally out of his disoriented stage, and now looked alarmed and anxious, bouncing up and down on his feet.

"What?" I asked flatly.

He hurried to me, putting both hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eye. "What did his body look like when he died? How did it feel!" he demanded.

I was totally shocked, even outraged. I swear to the Gods, if this is for his new dragon manual. . .

"_What?_" I hissed.

"Was he cold or hot!"

I shook with anger. **"Why does that matter! He's dead, I don't care if you want to know for your stupid book, I'm not describing his dead body!"** I shouted.

"Stop Fish! What's wrong with you?" Tuffnut shouted.

"TELL ME HOW HIS BODY FELT!"

I stood still, surprised at how stern he had acted. I choked on the words at first, not being able to find my voice. I sighed, eyes getting watery. "He was freezing. I couldn't find his pulse, he wasn't breathing," I trailed off, feeling that empty feeling I dreaded so much, "Like any normal dead body," I finished, looking at him with pleading eyes. I pushed his hands off me, "Can you leave me alone now, _please_?" I begged.

Astrid came over and put her hand on my shoulder, trying to console me. Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff looked at Fishlegs with disbelief and slight anger. "What was that, Fish! Why would you make him explain what a dead body looks like to you!" Snotlout demanded, "I mean, what-"

"Toothless isn't dead."

We all stared at Fishlegs. What did he just say?

"What?" Astrid growled.

"Toothless isn't dead!" Fishlegs now shouted at us, looking at us as if we were stupid.

"What do you mean, Fish?" Ruffnut asked.

He sighed, getting annoyed at our so-called 'stupidity'. "Toothless isn't dead! He's just in a sleep coma!" He explained. He clicked his tongue at our still confused expressions. "Ok, ever noticed when our dragons get hurt they go to sleep? Yeah, it's because that's how they heal themselves! They sleep it off and let whatever it is fix itself! When dragons go in sleep comas their bodies become freezing, and the pulse is hard to find, but it's there! Toothless. Isn't. Dead!" he finished, looking anxious and exasperated.

I couldn't believe what he just said. It was such a shock. I stared at the ground, ignoring all around me. "He isn't dead. . ." I whispered.

"Wait!" Astrid shouted, looking at everybody, "So now they're going to send him out to sea on a small ship. . ."

". . .and light it on fire. . ." Snotlout continued, voice raising at the end.

". . .and let it sink. . ." Tuff kept going.

". . .while he's unconscious!" Ruffnut finished, eyes bulging.

Anddddd... I'm back to the real world!

"TOOTHLESS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, setting us all off.

We sped out of the arena, running so fast we looked like blurs to each other. I ran faster than I ever have before, despite the protests from my still healing leg - we had to get there before the set the ship out!

"You guys keep going! Snot, Ruff! Come with me and we'll try to take a short-cut!" Astrid commanded, Snotlout and Ruffnut following her as she cut-off behind a house.

I kept running with Fish and Tuff, ignoring anything around me. We rounded a couple of houses, nearly slipping when we turned so fast.

My heart was pounding, racing.

I thought it would burst right out of my chest!

And then we saw the crowd of people, watching a small ship float out to see.

"STOP!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, causing many people's attentions to turn towards me. Astrid, Snot, and Ruffnut were already there frantically explaining to my Father the situation. His attention was automatically focused on me when I shouted.

"Hiccup?" he muttered in confusion.

And then the archers released their bows, arrows of fire streaming through the air and towards the ship.

"NO!" I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks.

The ship caught alight. I ran to the shoreline, staring in disbelief as the empty crumbling feeling came back. "NO!" I shouted again, feeling totally lost, "TOOTHLESS!"

And then it happened.

The familiar shriek we used to fear for so long, and then a ball of blue fire pushed its way into the air, sputtering and dying out into sparks.

"Toothless," I whispered, thinking I was dreaming. I was _very_ tempted to pinch myself.

We heard a roar, and a black slender figure emerged from the raging fires. Toothless. He locked eyes with me, looking disordered and shocked. My legs felt like jelly. He roared again, leaping into the air and into the icy waters.

"Toothless!" I screamed.

A black blob shot under the waters, heading to the shore and towards us. Finally an ebony head popped out of the water, and walked its way over to us.

I felt instant relief that you would never imagine.

I was well over the moon by now and into the realm of Valhalla.

My breathing was heavy as I smiled at the Night Fury making his way to shore.

"Toothless!" I exclaimed with pure joy, crashing into the dragon and flinging my arms around his neck into a hug. He purred happily, nuzzling the top of my head.

_"Wow, what I miss?" _he joked.

I punched the side of his neck lightly. "Shut-up, you over-grown newt."

He chuckled, still nuzzling my head again. _"Told you everything was fine."_

**A/N: And who thought I actually killed Toothless? *counts hands* Well I haven't the heart to do that! Who would? Anyway, hoped you guys liked it! Please leave a review, I need feedback! OH: I'm running low on prompt ideas! Anybody got any? Anything? Well just leave it in a review, it is much appreciated : ) **

**God bless!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello all! This newer drabble (drabbles, I should say) is inspired by another movie called "Case 39". It will be in more than one part, and it really isn't a drabble at all, but I had to write it down. It'll take me forever to finish, due to the fact I have my other story, but will be finished in due time. Thanks to my reviewers! : ) **

**A special thanks to my beta Toothless-the-nightfury! : D**

**Characters: Hiccup and Toothless**

**Prompt: "Son of Lightening and Death itself; run and pray it does not find you," the scrawny 14-year-old Viking boy had said. But then again, who said the book was talking about the **_**dragon?**_

_**A Dark Veil**_

_**Part 1**_

"_**The Past Burns"**_

_**Third POV**_

"I trust you, son."

"I know you do, Dad."

"You'll do good, Hiccup," Stoick reassured, ruffling his son's hair with a meaty hand, "Just don't blow-up anything, or hurt yourself or anyone else too bad, alright?"

"Alright," Hiccup replied glumly, forcing a smile for his Father.

"I'll be back—probably," the Chief said with a wink, already starting up the gang plank to the ship.

"And I'll be here," Hiccup said, adding a quick, "maybe."

They waved a finishing bye to the other, and finally Hiccup watched sadly as his Father jumped onto a ship that wouldn't be coming back for nearly a month—possibly even two months. That wasn't entirely why Hiccup was so gloomy, though. In fact he was so used to it by now that he felt no effect when his Father had told him that he would be trading with some of the other tribes for eight weeks. It was the fact that his Father had left _him _in charge. Of the whole _tribe._

Death wish, much?

Hiccup didn't feel ready at all for this type of responsibility. He couldn't bare even thinking about letting his Father down, especially when he had so much trust in his son. Hiccup couldn't help but think of the fact he _would_let his Father down, in one way or another. And Hiccup being Hiccup; he knew he could find it. His Dad had said that Hiccup would only be looked to in the big matters; if Berk was raided, there was a death or birth, or a large storm of some sort, that kinda stuff. But honestly, that's what Hiccup was trying to avoid. But the future was currently out of his control. Probably a good thing.

With a heavy heart, Hiccup trudged off the dock to be met by his best reptilian friend, Toothless.

_"Hey, Chief!" _Toothless mocked; with a good-heart, of course.

Hiccup sighed, not feeling the good-nature Toothless had intended. "Yeah, thanks Tooth," Hiccup replied sarcastically.

_"Aww, come on. I was just kidding. I don't know what you're worried about; you'll do great! And the stuff he left you in charge of rarely happens anyway. Just relax, Astrid and I will be behind you the whole time, not to mention the rest of the trainees," _Toothless said, trying to calm the young boy down.

Hiccup smiled. "Thanks Toothless," he chuckled lightly, "We don't even have to worry about dragons anymore, and you're right, that stuff does happen on rare occasions. What could possibly go wrong?"

**You're just **_**asking**___**for trouble when you say that.**

O~~~~~~O

"So Hiccup, do I have to do whatever you say now, or something?" Tuffnut asked, seemingly as a joke.

Ruffnut punched his arm. "Shut-up, moron! The kid looks like he's about to pee himself!"

"Could you guys stop. . .please?" Hiccup begged in a small, child-like voice.

"See!"

Astrid, being Astrid, came up and whapped them both upside the head. "_Both _of you shut-up. And Hiccup: just chill! Nothing's different," Astrid soothed, coming to sit next to her boyfriend on the bench.

The whole group was sitting at a long table in the mead hall—either scarfing down their food or idly picking at it as if they were not fully sure if it was dead yet. Hiccup didn't have anything at all, feeling too nervous and shy about all the attention he was getting. People had been bombarding him all day; either to make wise-crack remarks about him being 'in charge' or to congratulate him in his newly found authority. Either way Hiccup had been doing his best to hide from everybody—but being in a tribe with very persistent and stubborn Vikings. . .well even a chameleon wouldn't do a very good job at that. Or even the transparent beast from the chamber of Grimbeard.

"Guys. . ." Hiccup said, trying to get the attention _off _of him, "I know nothing's different, but… can we stop talking about it, please? Can't we just act normally?"

All nodded their heads slowly, it finally dawning on all of them that Hiccup did _not_ likeattention.

Could they get any slower?

Hiccup took a sigh of relief. "Good," he said with a smile.

"Hey, Hic, so how's being _in charge?" _a beefy, mocking voice boomed from behind.

And the smile. . . disappeared!

Hiccup blew his bangs out of his eyes, huffing with annoyance. "I'm gonna leave now."

All the trainees whispered quiet bye's or just simply waved, all understanding. Dogsbreath strutted his way toward them, eyeing the lean boy maliciously. Hiccup knew Dogsbreath was going to be extra-bad the next couple of months due to the fact his Father had left Hiccup _himself _in charge. As most know, Dogsbreath was never fond of the idea of Hiccup one day being leader; and now that Hiccup had some authority, and his Father wasn't around. . . . . . . .Anybody got any guesses?

And to add to that, Toothless wasn't anywhere to be seen, at the moment.

Hiccup slowly stood up from the table, avoiding any eye-contact with the burly boy. He kept his head low, using his long-bangs as an advantage to cover his eyes. Clenching his fists, he tried to walk past the wall of a boy. But Dogsbreath had a different plan.

He slammed a hand against Hiccup chest, nearly knocking the skinny boy over. "Where you going, Hic?" he asked, raising a sly eye-brow, "What? You don't want to talk to your old-friend, Dogsbreath?"

Hiccup bit his lip, but then smiled an ever-so fake smile, blinking his eyes once. "Did the definition of friend change in the last hour? Hm. Wish somebody had told me. . . ." Dogsbreath glared a hole into the young man. "And I'm going hunting with Toothless. He's expecting me right now, actually. So if you would excuse me," Hiccup said, trying to intimidate Dogsbreath by mentioning the fact Toothless _was _actually expecting him. Hiccup tried to shove his way past Dogsbreath, but with no avail. Dogsbreath simply copied Hiccup's movement; stepping right when he stepped left. Left when he stepped right.

"Why? The cat sees you all the time, why don't you. . . ." he took a step closer to Hiccup, "hang out with me for a little bit?" he snarled, gripping Hiccup by the collar and starting to drag him off somewhere—with no witnesses.

"Get—off!" Hiccup growled, trying to reach back and claw at the beefy hand that had a hold on his collar.

"Hey!"

Both boys turned to see a raged Astrid standing and swinging her double-headed ax in a circle.

And so were all the other trainees, excluding the double ax part.

Except for Snotlout, who looked between the two with shivering eyes.

"Leave'em alone 'breath," Tuffnut commanded, narrowing his eyes at the boy threatening his friend. Ruffnut cracked her knuckles.

Dogsbreath hollered with laughter. "You guys are actually _def_ending **him**_?"_

"Yes," an unusually confident Fishlegs replied bleakly.

Dogsbreath looked at all of their stern faces, finding it—amusing. He looked at Hiccup, then back at the trainees, before glancing back at Hiccup again. He cackled.

"_Oh, yeah?" _he droned, gripping Hiccup's collar harder.

Hiccup tensed under his hold, the trainees eyes went wide just at the mere mock in his voice.

"What if I did," he slowly turned Hiccup around so he was facing him, "_this__!"_

Dogsbreath kneed Hiccup in the gut, and Hiccup's cry in pain was like the gun-shot that set off a full-fledged brawl.

Before anybody knew it all were racing to the two, fists held high and faces flushing with anger. Dogsbreath focused on the scrawny, useless boy and him alone, kicking his prosthetic right out from under him. Hiccup's head met the wooden boards hard, feeling a reverberating pain shoot up his skull and messing with his head. He clutched at his crown, begging for the dizziness to subdue, but not before Dogsbreath decided it'd be a good idea to slam a foot down on Hiccup's _still _healing 'stump'. Fire shot through Hiccup's left leg, making him literally scream at the pain. Astrid was first over, ax held high and shining in the fire-light. But before Astrid could even think about bringing it down, Dogsbreath had swung his foot off Hiccup's wound and whipped around to face the warrior-girl. He caught the ax in his right hand, jerking it back and forcing it out of her grasp. He threw it across the room where it pierced into the defense-less wall near-by, finally alerting the little number of adults in the room of the fight. Hiccup clutched his stump, salt water threatening to escape his eyes. That stomp on his still delicate leg had _really _hurt. He could feel something warm and sticky slowly oozing out of the wound; no doubt it'll take longer to heal now. He dug his teeth into his lip, tasting copper. He looked up to see Dogsbreath ready to throw a punch at Astrid. Hiccup, with a new determination, crawled over and clutched the burly boy's leg. Dogsbreath yelped in surprised as his leg was pulled out from under him, and his face connected with wood.

He looked back with fire in his eyes at Hiccup, a new hatred and despise for the young-man flowing into his body. The little number of adults had finally reached the feuding teens and were trying to hold back the other trainees; not totally sure if they were going after Dogsbreath, or Hiccup. Dogsbreath took this to his advantage, kicking Hiccup in the face with his boot. Hiccup yelled in pain again, now both hands trying to decide whether to clutch his face of stump. Dogsbreath smirked in disgusting amusement, standing up _proudly. _He snickered at the withering boy on the floor, resting his hands on his hips in a disapproving manner. He narrowed his eyes and frowned seriously, raising his boot one last time to bring it on Hiccup's leg again. Hiccup winced, breathing heavily. He caved in on himself, crippling against the cold floor, and prepared for the blow.

With literally only a second to spare, a blue-ball of flame flew straight at Dogsbreath's feet.

He leapt back in surprise, and the whole room seem to come to an icy halt at the familiar raged-screeched.

The room was immediately blanketed in a silence so thick you could reach out and grab it. All stared with gaping mouths at the raged Night Fury as he saw his rider in pain and bleeding on the floor. Toothless growled a warning at Dogsbreath, just daring him to move, and stomped over to Hiccup's side.

Hiccup slowly peered up at Toothless, never letting go of his burning leg. Toothless let his signature slits die down so he could look sympathetically at his friend. He slowly turned around and glared at the adults, daring _them _to hold _**him**_back. All the adults kept their grips on the other teens, knowing full-well if they got in the way they would most likely come out with a burn or two. Hiccup tried to steady his breathing with no success, he was still hyperventilating even if nobody was trying to beat him up anymore. Toothless looked down worry-filled at the young, fragile boy. He gently wrapped his tail around Hiccup's torso and lifted him to his feet, only releasing him when Hiccup had a good hold on the Night Fury's neck. When the tail released him, Hiccup's left leg totally gave out; if Toothless wasn't there as a crutch he would've been back on the floor. Squeezing his eyes and gouging his teeth in his bottom-lip again, he let Toothless help him limp out of the mead hall. Hiccup quietly whispered a sincere thank you to the trainees for defending him as he left.

Toothless slammed the doors to the mead-hall when he and his friend were both safely outside.

_"What __**in Hel's Name **__did he do to you?" _

Hiccup groaned, not wanting to tell his vengeful dragon what had happened. "We got in a fight," he explained.

Toothless snorted. _"__No duh__. What the heck did he do to your leg?" _he demanded, meaning that in the first place.

Hiccup shuddered at the dragon's sternness. "He stomped on it. . ." he said quietly.

Toothless stayed silent for a while.

"Toothless?"

_"__What__?"_

"Thanks."

Toothless narrowed his eyes at the ground. _"Come on. We're getting that leg taking care of and then going hunting. I think you should eat meals at your house 'till your Father returns."_

Hiccup smiled. "My Dad had a little 'talk' with you before he left, didn't he?"

_"He did, actually… And like he needed to, anyway. That fat kid went way too far, stomping on your leg," _Hiccup chuckled at his reference to Dogsbreath as 'fat kid'. _"That beast of a child will pay—eventually."_ Over the past few months, Hiccup had learned that Toothless resented the phrase beast after people referred to him as one so many times and this was the first instance the dragon had freely used the word. Needless to say Hiccup felt the unspoken promise of revenge in his speech.

Toothless had always acted like an older-brother, or even Father, when Hiccup had gotten injured or harmed; Hiccup just guessed it was his age finally showing through. He usually acted like a youthful child or crazy kid when he was in a good mood, but if anything crossed him you saw all his age and centuries worth of wisdom flash through his eyes and with a snap of the fingers he was like an over-protective Father or brother. Sometimes it was absolutely smothering, but other times Hiccup appreciated it. The boy smiled down at his dragon as they finally wobbled up to his house.

O~~~~~~O

Toothless and Hiccup both had a little panic-attack after seeing the beat-up shape of Hiccup's leg. It almost looked as if the skin was cracking, shattered, with blood slowly oozing out of the cuts. Hiccup swore. Toothless had a heart-attack; afraid they would have to cut off more of the leg, and immediately began tending to it with a flurry of licks much to Hiccup's weak protests. After taking care of most of the scrapes and damaged skin, Hiccup wrapped a new bandage around the wound carefully, but tightly to stop any more blood flow.

With some reluctance from Toothless (after seeing the leg and its shape), the duo finally set off into the dim-lit woods for a good hunting trip.

It was near evening by the time dragon and boy set-off; the sky turning an over-whelming hue of oranges, pinks, and even purples, the clouds just barely caressing over the bright-bulb called the sun and setting off light beams in different directions. It was nearly-breath taking. And by nearly, I mean that the storm clouds creeping in from the distance kinda set the mood off.

You could see the grey masses of dark moisture stalking closer and closer to the little island of Berk. What Berk didn't know was that this was a warning; a warning that shouldn't have been taken so lightly. Dark things to come, the storm screamed, but Berk in all its joy of the beautiful sunset ignored them; simply brushed the headings off.

Toothless and Hiccup set off in the woods at a brisk pace; Hiccup riding on Toothless's back with a bow and arrows strapped tightly to him.

"Toothless. . .I can't really use one of these," Hiccup had warned, twisting the bow to examine it more closely.

_"You'll learn, I can't do __all__ the hunting."_

"Can't I just use a sword?"

_"No," _Toothless explained gently, sensing Hiccup's nervousness, _"Hunting is all about long-distance killing. The prey must not detect you or you don't get to eat that day. Circle of life."_

And that was the end of the conversation.

So they found themselves trekking through the woods, the only real source of light left was the glowing beams that flowed from Toothless's eyes. Hiccup squinted just to see the silhouettes of the trees and other objects. How were they supposed to hunt in this?

"Um, Toothless?" Hiccup asked attentively.

_"What?"_

"I can't see, how am I supposed to see the animals to hunt in the first place?"

_"Well, I __can__ see in the dark, so I'll help you. Just try to adjust your eyes, focus on one thing at a time, not the whole picture," _Toothless explained, revealing the worth of wisdom that had been stored in his mind for who knows how long.

"Alright. . ."

Toothless pursued through the black forest in an eerie silence, a silence unbelievable for a creature of his size. Hiccup tried to follow his advice, focusing on one thing at a time and letting his eyes adjust to the images, but it was hard for a human with duller senses than a Night Fury; emphasis on _Night. _The moon had finally over-powered the bright shadow of the sun; rivers of light trickling down through the branches. The black clouds were just barely circling around the moon, hiding any stars that glimmered beneath, but still kept the bright comforting light of the night's sun. Just as the two were getting comfortable, thunder shattered through the oddly quiet wood, startling both dragon and boy.

Hiccup cursed under his breath. "Figures. It's not even storm season but here we have them already. Only in _Berk!"_

Toothless angled his eyes at the sky, sending the flow of yellow-light upwards into the branches of the trees. "_Maybe it'll just pass through, hopefully."_

Hiccup snickered. "Yeah, and maybe it won't snow in Berk this winter."

Toothless sighed heavily at Hiccup's use of sarcasm; it always dampened the mood a bit. Brushing it off, Toothless examined the skies again. The clouds—were different. They were—swirling around the moon, as if catching it in a whirl-pool. He had seen clouds like this before, when the Red Death had raided his home and took control of the nest. A hated singe of worry and anger rattled up his spine; these clouds would not pass for a while. He flinched at the crashing of thunder and lightning colliding with each other; as if answering to his thoughts.

That's when they heard something.

"What was that?" Hiccup whispered.

Toothless's eyes widened and he perked his ears up to listen closely. He didn't know what it was; but whatever it happened to be he wanted nothing to do with it. _"Let's go home, we can skip training and go hunting in the morning for food."_

"Wait-," Hiccup said, stopping the Night Fury in his tracks.

Both boys listened again as the sound became more distinct. Hiccup felt his eyes broadened as he recognized the sound.

"Oh, gods. Toothless, that's someone crying! A little kid by the sounds of it," Hiccup stated, anxiety present in his voice.

_"We're leaving."_

"What? No! Toothless, someone needs our help!" Hiccup argued, already un-hooking his harness and jumping off of the dragon.

_"Hiccup! You shouldn't be walking on that leg!"_

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Toothless, that's the least of our problems right now." Hiccup set off in the direction of the crying, stepping down gently on the moist ground because of his leg.

Toothless immediately followed the persistent boy, feeling a boiling in the pit of his stomach; he looked up horrifically to see the clouds turning green, swirls becoming more distinct and thunder crashing through the air. _"Hiccup, slow down!" _he warned.

But Hiccup ignored him. Hiccup was nearly running through the woods now, concern blossoming through his chest as the foreign sobs became heavier. He felt like he was running a race; zipping through the woods blindly and moving every branch out of the way. Toothless kept shouting protests at him, all being brushed away with simple words of argument. Hiccups hair was being tugged at by the branches, his palms stinging with the little cuts he earned at pushing the brushwood away at such a vast rate. His stump screeched at him to stop, but his mind told him to keep going.

He halted in his tracks, mouth ajar when he laid eyes at the source of the weeping.

_"Hiccup! I told you to slow down, if I would've lost you-," _Toothless began, finally gazing down at the owner of the sobs. His mouth went slack, eyes dilating slightly.

It was a little girl, no more than six or seven, neither had ever in their life seen before—quite peculiar considering both knew everyone on the island. She was hunched into a little ball, back heaving up and down with her sobs and weeping. Her long, muddy-brown hair cascaded down her shoulder and back; acting like some sort of coat. The poor child had nothing but a _sheet _wrapped around herself as clothing. She must've been freezing; Hiccup was cold and he had a coat on. Her skin was a ghostly pale, a thin frame of snow it almost seemed. She slowly peered up at the two, cheeks flushing and caramel brown eyes twinkling with water. Her nose was a slight red, lips trembling and letting out uneven breaths. She sat up all the way, slowing back away and against a tree.

"It's ok," Hiccup soothed, stretching out a hand as a sign of peace, "it's ok."

"Please don't hurt me!" she bawled, tears pouring from her eyes again.

Hiccup's eyes fell, peering at the girl with pure sympathy. "It's ok sweetie," he felt awkward using the word 'sweetie'. Hiccup had never been good with little children, but this was different; he had to help her and show her everything was ok. "It's ok. We won't hurt you, I promise," he spoke in calm whispers.

She clutched the tree as if it were her life-line, tears streaming down her delicate cheeks like rivers. "I'm cold," she whined, sobs breaking through the sentence. Hiccup instantly took off his coat, stepping towards the young child slowly, his coat outstretched. He kneeled down beside her, wrapping her tiny shoulders in the warm fur.

"There you go. Can you stand up?" he asked, wondering how long the girl had been out here in the first place.

She looked at him warily, searching for a sign of trust in his leafy-orbs. She breathed deeply, standing up with shaky legs. Hiccup smiled; at least the child wasn't weak or exhausted. Maybe she hadn't been out here too long and was just scared. Thunder cracked through the dark blue sky again, lightening so bright it blinded the eye, pierced through the senses like a dagger. Like a warning.

The small girl whimpered, stepping back as if ready to shoot off and away from the storm. Hiccup steadied her shoulders gently, speaking in soft, comforting tone. "It's alright, just a storm. Happens a lot here. . .what's your name, honey?" He coiled in on himself when he referred to the startled child as 'honey' as an attempt to calm her. He felt a little better when she relaxed at the use of word, her hoarse voice gaining a slight bit of confidence.

"Hallow," she replied quietly.

"Hallow? I like that name," he soothed, smiling a crooked smile at her. Her eyes brightened at the gentleness the stranger had, a small smile cracking through her chapped-lips.

"What's your name?" she asked, the candy-colored eyes she possessed dancing with calm and content-ness.

Hiccup grinned. "Hiccup."

Hallow giggled, "Hiccup? That sounds silly."

Hiccup laughed lightly with her, "Yeah. . .well that's what I get for having Vikings as parents." Hallow smiled larger at this boy that called himself 'Hiccup', feeling at ease. "Come on," he urged, "We'll get you back to my village. You can have something to eat, and we'll get you some warmer clothes. Is that ok?"

Hallow nodded. She hesitantly stepped toward the dragon Hiccup was leading her to, feeling more comfortable when Hiccup had explained that the dragon was 'Toothless' and he wouldn't harm her. She sat in front of Hiccup on the warm, scaly back of the creature, feeling calm and satisfied. She smiled, finally letting her tensing shoulders sag with the comfort. They rode towards the village slowly, Hiccup curious about the child, Hallow seemingly happy as can be, but Toothless…

Toothless Was Scared.

O~~~~~~O

"Tell me again, lad, where did you find that little girl?" Hiccup's grandfather, Old Wrinkly, asked, gesturing with his head to the room the child was slumbering in.

"In the woods; I'm as confused as you, trust me," Hiccup explained, letting out a hesitant chuckle, "Did you guys get anything out of her? An explanation or something?" Toothless raised his head, wanting to hear any news of this strange girl.

The duo had immediately brought the girl before the adults in the tribe; deeming it Hiccup's duty to decide what to do—him being 'in charge' and all. After getting proper clothes on the girl (a brown dress with cream leggings and fur boots, plus a hairband), Hiccup decided to have Hallow stay at his very trusted grandfather's house, seeking advice and help from the aging-man. The adults had urged the child to tell them why she was in the woods, how she got there, etc, but received nothing but shy eyes and a shake of the head. They were going to find the tribe she belonged to; and if they couldn't she would stay with someone who could take care of her, and maybe go as far as adopting her if necessary.

"No," Old Wrinkly replied, getting a frown from Hiccup, "Why don't you try, son? She seems to like you," he suggested, now receiving a nervous look from the young lad.

"W-I-I don't-."

"Just try, Hiccup, we need some information out of her."

Hiccup looked into his grandfather's eyes, seeing if he was really serious. He let out a long sigh at the old man's persistence, and stood up. "Fine," he muttered, and made his way toward Hallow's temporary quarters. Toothless followed on his heal, not wanting to miss a single bit of information that Hiccup may gain.

Hiccup gently rapped his knuckles on the door. "Hallow?" he whispered.

"Hiccup?" a sweet, innocent voice asked.

Hiccup put on a smile, opening the door wide and walking into the room. Hallow's whole face lit up with seeing someone she knew again, and she ran over to Hiccup's side. "Hi, Hiccup!"

He smiled down gently at the excited youth. "Did you sleep well, Hallow?"

"Mhmm," she replied happily, "Your grandfather's really nice."

"Yeah," Hiccup said, putting a hand on the anxious child's back and guided her to the bed, "he is. Hallow, why don't you sit down and we can have a talk, ok?"

Hallow, undisturbed by his words, chipped a very enthusiastic 'ok', plopping on the bed next to Hiccup with a thunk. Toothless rested at the teenager and child's feet, pretending not to be listening but always keeping one ear up. Hallow kept the giddied smile plastered on her face, Hiccup grinning slightly back.

"Hallow, I know you may not want to talk about it, but we need to know; understand?"

The smiled fell, Hallow's eyes became solemn as she nodded.

Hiccup stretched a comforting smile to the frightened girl, "Good. Where did you come from, Hallow?"

Hallow was no longer looking at Hiccup. Her expression was dazed, not fully there. Her eyes portrayed her name as Hiccup saw the brown iris's seem to hallow out and become consumed in thought.

"Hallow?" he asked gently.

She kept her stare at the floor. Her pale-pink lips trembled, her gaze never adverting away from the mahogany boards. "They hate me," she eventually whimpered, ever so quietly.

Toothless's head shot up. Hiccup remained confused, startled at the girl's words, "What? Who hates you?"

Her eyes began to collect shimmering pools of salt water. "My tribe. They left me to die," she sobbed, bringing her hands to her face to hide the tears.

"Hallow, what do you mean?"

"They left me there! In the woods!" she proclaimed, looking Hiccup straight in the eye, "my whole tribe hated me enough to want to kill me!" she began weeping again, shoulders shaking slightly. Hiccup's heart broke; his tribe had hated him, but her tribe—tried to _kill _her. "They dumped me here on this island, without even stopping the ship. . . ." she managed to mutter through her crying.

Toothless cocked his head in sympathy, Hiccup gingerly resting a hand on the girl's heaving back. "Calm down, Hallow. It's ok, everything's alright now. We're gonna find you a good home with people that'll look after you, ok? I promise."

Hallow's head shot up. "No!" she shouted.

"No? Hallow what's wrong? I thought you'd like. . ."

"I wanna stay with you!"

Toothless eye's widened, Hiccup felt himself freeze at the girl's request. "W-with me? Hallow, I can't do that," he eased, not wanting to hurt the girl.

She nearly started to bawl again. "Why?" she whimpered.

"I-I can't, I'm only fourteen, it'll be better if you stay with someone older," Hiccup tried to reason, feeling horrible rejecting the poor child's request.

She looked like she wanted to scream, shout, until she got her way. But instead Hallow shoved her clenched fists to her eyes, sobbing. Hiccup put a hand on her back, rubbing it gently. Hallow whimpered slightly, letting her head fall on Hiccup's lap. Full of sympathy and pity, Hiccup stroked her hair, feeling rancid about the whole thing. This little girl trusts him, after she had nearly been killed, and Hiccup has to push her away.

"The grown-ups wouldn't like it, Hallow," he eased again, trying anything to stop the crying, "They don't think I could take care of a child."

She looked up at him. "Did you ask?" she barely whispered.

"Well-no. . ."

"Then how do you know if you haven't tried?" she whimpered, resting her head on Hiccup's lap again. This girl must have come from a Viking background to be this stubborn to try and get what she wants.

Hiccup stared hard into the wall. He sighed deeply, conflicting with himself over the matter over and over again. He watched his shadow move back and forth with the candle light, listening to the faint patter of heavy rain on the roof. Thunder shook the house again, lightening illuminating the room as Hiccup decided what he would do. He bit his lip in determination, setting his eyes straight forward into unwavering masks.

O~~~~~~O

"I can take care of her!"

"Hiccup laddie, you're still 'oung yerself! How are you going to take care o'v the girl?" Gobber protested, looking at his apprentice as if he had grown two heads.

"I know but, she trusts me and that's what she needs right now - someone she can trust. Listen: we'll have to find her a permanent home before my Father gets back, right? Just let her stay with me until then, help her branch out a little!" Hiccup begged, looking at the Council of Elders and very trusted adults with pleading eyes.

"Hiccup," his uncle, Spitelout, argued, "she's what, seven? How are you going to take care of her with all your work, and training!"

"She's obviously been taking care of herself for a while, I can do it!"

"Hiccup, we understand this hits home for you," another adult piped up, holding up a hand to hush any argument out of the boy, "and her story is a sad one. But you're just too young, and we're not sure if you are capable of handling a child."

"But-!"

"Let him do it."

All baffled adults and an even more baffled Hiccup turned to stare at Old Wrinkly with shock.

"What?" Hiccup found himself asking.

"I think my grandson can do it, and I'm not saying this because he is my grandson. Hiccup is probably the most responsible out of his age group—and you all know it," he said, pointing an accusing finger around the room, "I think this responsibility will be good for him, better than what his Father assigned him with, I can tell you that. It'll be good for the girl, too. Hiccup's right, she'll branch out more, her health will even improve. Hiccup, I give you the elder's blessing to let the child stay with you," Hiccup's face became alighted with a giant smile, his eyes glowing with accomplishment "But—," his grandfather continued, "You are Chief at the moment, you make the final decision."

Hiccup peered around the room, watching different expressions slash across the adult's faces. Some seemed to be almost insulted at what Old Wrinkly had said, others took his words to heart and were staring at the boy curiously, wondering what made him so different from the rest. Hiccup grinned a lop-sided smile again, clapping his hands and announcing…

"So it's final. I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III, will take care of the little girl, Hallow, until permanent housing is found."

O~~~~~~O

Hiccup and Toothless approached Old Wrinkly's house the next day, seeing an anxious Hallow sitting on the steps. The ground was soggy and hard to walk through, the distant aroma of salt hovering around the little island of Berk. Hallow stared boringly into the grass, counting the number of dew-drops on a particular blade of sweet grass. Her face leapt with joy as the two approached; she ran to them, firmly placing herself in front of Hiccup.

"Hi, Hiccup!" she exclaimed, a child's sweet innocence dancing through her smooth hazel eyes.

"Hey Hallow, I got some bad news," he said, faking a frown.

Hallow's smile collapsed, her lips trembling once again. "W-what?"

"No more visits—," Hallow began to protest before Hiccup stopped her, "because you have to put up with me now. You're going to come home with me tonight."

Hallow gasped in amazement, her sweet eyes that would make any girl envious twinkling with delight. She threw her arms around Hiccup's torso, nearly knocking him off his feet. He chuckled at the child's utter amazement, barely catching himself "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise to be good!"

Hiccup chuckled light-heartedly again, taking Hallow off of him and leading her inside his grandfather's house to gather the little number of items she had.

Toothless stared after the two with unbearable curiosity, eyeing the girl especially. She looked back at the confused dragon, giving him a look that baffled him further.

She **smirked**. The innocent little Hallow _**smirked**_ at him, almost _tauntingly. _

'_Something's not right with that child,' _he thought grimly, eyes narrowing, _'no child is ever that innocent.'_

Toothless would never know how right he was, until it was too late. Besides; no one had asked the ever so sweet, beautiful little girl _why _her tribe wanted to kill her.

**A/N: What you guys think? Should I continue, or let my little plot bunny wither away to be forgotten? A review would be highly appreciated, adored, and full-on loved. Now if I do continue, the parts won't be written in a row. Little one-shots will be interrupting our little venture if I do continue, this was originally a special for October I wanted to do, but it won't be finished by then. Anyway, review and prompt, please!**

**God Bless!**

**Disclaimer- *puts DVD of HTTYD in bullet-proof, diamond studded case* . . . . . . . . . . . .what? this is the closest I'll come to owning HTTYD, it shall be protected!**


	7. A Dark Veil:  Part II

**A/N: Warning: Updates on any of my stories will slowly begin to get less frequent. Sorry, with school and everything it's hard to find motivation and time to type for a few hours. I'll try my best. **

**On a lighter note…. .Here's Part II of a Dark Veil!**

**Disclaimer: You don't want me to own HTTYD.**

**Characters: Hiccup, Toothless, Hallow**

**Prompt for Part II: Some say secrets can be deadly. I say they **_**are.**_

_**A Dark Veil**_

_**Part 2**_

_**Whispered Secrets**_

Two weeks passed and Hiccup found himself attaching to little Hallow. She was always (abnormally) well behaved, and you never found her without a (far too innocent) bright smile. She knew just how to charm Hiccup with her sweet innocent-ness, and the chief-to-be saw Hallow just like a younger long-lost sister. Hiccup eventually enrolled Hallow in training with the younger students. He knew Gobber could take good care of her, and that gave Hiccup time to work in the forge or fly with Toothless. Of course Hiccup had taken the youth flying with him before, but Hiccup and Toothless liked flying by themselves, too. Like the old days.

So now Hiccup and Toothless found themselves walking Hallow to training one grey, chilly day, with Hallow's frail hand in Hiccup's. Finally they arrived to the training ring, Gobber at the entrance with a broad smile. He waved to the trio, earning an enthusiastic wave from Hallow. She said a small bye to boy and dragon, slowly sauntering off to the ring. She all of the sudden stopped in her tracks, slowly turning herself around and looking straight back at Hiccup.

She smiled faintly, as if it were forced. "I love you," her high-pitched voice rang. Not in a romantic way, I assure you. As if a daughter saying it to her mother or father, or little sister saying it to an older brother.

Hiccup was taken aback by the tiny amount of words. Seeing the hopeful look in the girl's eyes, as if afraid he would deny it, he murmured, "You too, Hallow*."

Hallow's smile widened across her cheeks, forming small dimples still to be grown out of. She flipped herself back around and walked with a skip in her step to a beaming Gobber. Gobber had seen the little girl and his godchild bond over the past weeks, and was pouring with pride at how responsible Hiccup was becoming. He wasn't the six year-old apprentice anymore, he was a young man. Gobber could've torn up at the thought of Hiccup growing so old and one day taking over the whole Hairy Hooligan Tribe. Ever since he found out his now passed-wife (RIP) couldn't bear children, he had seen Hiccup as a son. And when Stoick deemed him godparent* after the boy's mother passing, well you could see the trust and pride swelling up all sides of him for the next few weeks.

Hallow trotted up to the burly man, Gobber smiled down at her and led her inside the ring to begin training with the rest of the children.

Hiccup's smile faded into a small frown, as he and Toothless turned around and started making their way towards the forge. Hiccup wasn't sure he liked getting so close to Hallow, or the other way around. Hallow would eventually be given to a family that could better take care of her, and Hiccup would know it was for the best and probably be fine with it, but Hallow was becoming attached to the scrawny teenager. When she wasn't at training, she was with Hiccup. When she wasn't sleeping, she was with Hiccup. The child was always with him, feeling that he was the only _real _person she could trust, they had all guessed. But it was getting out of hand.

Hiccup sighed deeply with his inner-conflict, earning a worried glance from Toothless.

_"What?" _he asked.

Hiccup sighed again, slapping his palms on his sides. "I honestly don't know. Is it just me, or is Hallow becoming, to….. .?"

_"Glued to your thigh?"_

"Well if you put it like that, then yes."

_"Look, Hiccup," _Toothless explained, glancing at the teenager, _"It's probably just a phase. She's obviously been neglected all her life, and now she has a friend and someone she can trust. She's probably worried you'll disappear on her or something. Sound a bit familiar?"_

Hiccup heaved a sigh, and nodded. When Hiccup had first been accepted back after he woke up from the Battle with the Red Death, he had ranted to Toothless time and time again about his worries of waking up and finding it all a dream. That all of his new friends, people that accepted him, people that didn't judge him, would just, vanish. You can't blame the boy; he had been bullied and gone unnoticed for fourteen years of his life. And now all of this, well, was overwhelming. Unreal. Hiccup let his worried expression falter, looking at his friend. "Yeah."

_"Well there you go," _Toothless finished, smiling.

Hiccup pushed a smile, and the duo continued their way to the forge. The lifeless clouds were still a bleak charcoal color, the ground constantly squishing under each footstep from the recent rain. It had been storming a lot lately in their little island called Berk, all to the concern of Hiccup. It _never _stormed this much at once, and it wasn't even storm season. Despite being the substitute Chief, it wasn't Hiccup that was most worried. It was Toothless. Dark memories flooded back like a black tsunami every time the sky lit up with lightening. Toothless never told anyone about his worries, instead tried to brush them off. What good was it going to do if he got all the dragons - plus Hiccup - worried? Nothing, he had concluded. Toothless ignored the screams of warnings erupting from the clouds, much to his distaste.

All of the sudden, Hiccup froze, listening intently to the goings-on at the docks as a familiar, graceful flag whipped with the wind.

_"What?" _

Hiccup shushed his dragon, smiling at a familiar, hearty laugh. He bolted towards the docks, a huge grin on his face. Toothless followed warily, confused with his rider's antics. Hiccup was met at the docks by a large, burnet man with a long dark beard for a belly and a booming laugh.

"Well isn't it my nephew, Hiccup! Or should I say," the man looked to Toothless, "Dragon Tamer?"

"Nice to see you too, Uncle Mount."

The man Hiccup called 'Uncle Mount' smiled, opening up his arms. "Aww, I haven't seen you in ages! Come 'ere, ya toothpick!" Uncle Mount pulled Hiccup into a quick, hearty hug and examined the boy.

"Good Gods, did you get skinnier? You're hair's really on fire, just like your mother's! Ohhhhhhhhh, look at that battle wound!" he gestured to Hiccup's prosthetic, leaning down to whisper in his nephew's ear, "Bet the chicks dig that."

Hiccup smiled sheepishly, a reddish tint coming to his ears.

'Uncle Mount' (nick-named 'Uncle Mountain' because of his large appearance), was Hiccup's Mother's brother. Only brother, to be precise. He was a man that took pride in his beard, loved a good cup of mead, talked a lot, but had a loving heart and good sense of humor. Hiccup adored his Uncle, he was one of the only people who never rejected Hiccup; and Uncle Mount adored his nephew, Hiccup being the last bit of his dear sister he had left. They used to have a better relationship than Stoick and Hiccup, up until, well you know. Sad thing was they rarely saw each other; Hiccup's Uncle lived on a faraway island and keeping in touch was hard.

"What are you doing here in Berk?" Hiccup asked.

"Well," 'Mount started, hefting his bag to his shoulder and walking off the docks, "I was trade'n with your Father some ways back, and he told me all 'bout leaving _you _in charge. I decided it'd be nice to take a visit and see how you were doin'."

Hiccup smiled up at the looming man, getting a silly grin back.

_"Uhhh, Hiccup?"_

Berk's heir looked at his dragon, then back to his Uncle. "Oh! Uncle Mount," he stopped walking and side-stepped, motioning to Toothless, "this is my dragon, Toothless. Toothless, my Uncle Mount."

Said dragon crooned a greeting and nodded to the man, but the man just flinched and stepped back slightly. Hiccup narrowed his eyes in confusion, raising his eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

Uncle Mount chuckled lightly, continuing their decent, "Ah, well Hiccup, us down south aren't exactly on great terms with dragons yet. In due time, trust me, but you have to understand why I'm still, mm, careful with the creatures."

Hiccup nodded. "Oh. I understand."

Hiccup's mother was k… I probably don't need to finish.

Noticing his nephew's disappointment, Mount stepped right in front of the boy and grasped his shoulders. "Listen. Why don't we go back to my short-term quarters and catch up? I wanna hear that story between you and that fifty-foot dragon!" he boomed, patting the unstable boy on the back.

Hiccup seemed confused at first. "Wha—um—Gobber wouldn't like that….. .and—"

"What!" His uncle bellowed. "Gobber? Pfff! He's gonna deal, I want to see me nephew! Now come on—" he shrugged, clapping a hand on his back and leading him to his temporary hut "—er, I'll even let the dragon come."

_"I wasn't allowed to in the first place?" _Toothless asked, insulted.

Hiccup simply smiled, half-ly because of Toothless's remark. "Sure, Uncle Mount."

Uncle Mount beamed, opening the door to the small hut and elegantly gesturing the Night Fury and teenager inside.

O~~~~~~O

Uncle Mount was shaking with laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. "Oh for the love of the Gods, this dragon _really _burned down the torch looking for _trolls?* _Ye gotta be joking!"

Hiccup's face was shining with a bright smile, leaning back in his chair lazily. "I swear, it really happened! Ask him!" He pointed to Toothless.

Toothless scratched his head sheepishly, not meeting anyone's eyes. _"I, uhhhhhh….. ."_

_ "_He doesn't like to admit he broke his reputation for never missing", Hiccup added.

Both Uncle and Nephew let out a content chuckle, looking at the Night Fury. 'Mount turned his gaze to his now grown nephew, full of pride and so proud of his sister's little son. "It's was good to catch up with ya', lad."

Hiccup gave him a crooked, closed smile. "You, too, Uncle." Toothless crooned an agreement, trying to warm up to the cautious man. 'Mount pressed his lips together, trying to look happy to the dragon, and nodded. Hiccup felt a little saddened by the fact his Uncle was unsure of Toothless, seeing how he reacted to the dragon. Lost in thought, Hiccup glanced out the window. He gasped in surprise, leaping to his feet.

"Oh Gods! I forgot about Hallow! C'mon, Toothless! We gotta pick her up," Hiccup said, already walking to the door. Luckily, he had been able to tell his Uncle about the little girl named Hallow, and this had made his Uncle even prouder of the boy.

"I'll see you tonight, Hicca!" he said, waving bye.

"You know I don't like it when you call me that!" said boy yelled back, opening the door.

"That's why I called you it!" his Uncle sung, trying to look innocent.

Hiccup shook his head with a grin, stepping out into the still dull, gloomy day. Toothless narrowed his eyes at the sky, wrinkling his face in disgust. Hiccup didn't notice it though, with his haste to get to the training ring, which Toothless appreciated. He shook his head of all bad thoughts, bounding towards the direction of the training ring.

After squashing through about eight piles of nothing but mud, slipping a few times, and then wiping their faces of mud, they finally came to the ring. Hiccup and Toothless walked in when Gobber was summing up the lesson, getting ready to dismiss the class. Standing faithfully by the pegged-leg man's side was the Boneknapper* dragon, rightfully named Screech because of his powerful roar. Gobber kept lecturing to them about something, waving a hand towards the dragon with a smile. Gobber (though he didn't like to admit it) loved the creature, and rightfully so, Screech had deemed Gobber his human (even if Gobber wasn't fond of flying). Hiccup grew warmhearted of Screech, too. Screech was a cheery dragon that, while not as much as he did Gobber, was caring of the young boy called 'Hiccup'. Weird name to him, but he was pleasant for a Viking his age. They talked every now and again, and Screech even (with Gobber's permission) helped Hiccup with new inventions.

Obviously the lesson today was simply about the characteristics of the dragons, as the Night Fury and boy got closer they heard Gobber explaining the legend of the Boneknapper.

"Hi Screech," Hiccup whispered as he approached the Boneknapper.

_"Hello, young Hiccup! And you too, Toothless!" _the cheery dragon greeted, getting a nod and smile from the Night Fury. _"Almost done with that—er— catapult project, yet?"_

"Uh, huh, almost," Hiccup said sheepishly.

_"Good, I wanna see it when it's done!"_

"You'll be the first to know, Screech!" Hiccup promised. Toothless hit him with his tail. Hiccup gasped in pain, rubbing the back of his head and glaring at said dragon. "Er, aside from Toothless." Toothless smiled triumphantly as Hiccup scratched his head, leaning into his hand and crooning.

"—and then this big guy 'ere let out a big roar, and boom! There's the tale," Gobber finished, noticing Hiccup. "Now off with ya's! I need to talk to 'iccup here alone, so can you wait a little while with Toothless, Hallow?" Gobber asked, looking to the girl.

"Mhm," she chipped, standing on tip-toe. Hiccup and Gobber smiled, going somewhere private to talk about Hallow's improvements.

Toothless settled down in the warm dirt as Hiccup and Gobber walked to the other side of the ring, curling around himself and relaxing. He was nearly asleep, when he noticed Hallow walking quietly over to Screech.

Toothless lifted his head, narrowing his eyes in interest. Hallow smiled her innocent smile, scratching the Boneknapper. He crooned, leaning into her small palm. She giggled, receiving a little, soft nuzzle in her stomach from the dragon. She smiled again, only this time—it was different. Somehow; Toothless wasn't sure how, he only knew something was different. Her caramel eyes fogged over, and became almost as dark as the rain clouds that threatened to start thundering any second. Toothless cocked his head, watching with suspicion. The seven year-old beckoned Screech closer, to whisper something in the dragon's ear. She cupped a hand over her mouth, so only her and the Boneknapper knew what she was saying. She finally finished, pulling away with her sweet smile Toothless was becoming too used to. Though, to Toothless's bafflement, Screech looked confused. His eyes were narrowed in thought at the girl, seemingly still trying to process what she said. But Toothless saw something in his dragon eyes that wasn't confusion. It was an emotion dragons so rarely show, so rarely feel, Toothless almost forgot the word for it. _**Fear.**_

Toothless's mouth hung open. He stood up with a huff and darted over to Hallow, cutting her off. Hallow stepped back, confused and a little frightened. The Night Fury glared at the girl, his jaded eyes demanding an explanation. Hallow's eyes were wide, the tree-bark color sparkling despite the fact the sun hadn't shown itself in days. Seeing the dragon's fierce gaze, she settled a bit, and actually _smiled. _Wait, excuse me, ahem, _smirked _is the word I'm looking for.

"Well?" she questioned, linking her hands behind her back. "Go ahead, _Toothless. _Say what you want to say," she mocked.

Toothless scoffed rolling his eyes. _"You can't even understand what I'm saying right now, but I'm pretty sure I can make you understand other ways," _he threatened with a growl.

Hallow started laughing, her little giggle sounding like bells on a sleigh. "I can understand you, dragon, you don't _need _to use other ways," she retorted, still smiling tauntingly.

Toothless's eyes flashed, his breath catching. Hallow understood him? He started growling, seeing the little seven year-old as a threat. _"How!" _he demanded.

She rang with small laughs again, blinking slowly. "Oh, Toothless," she drawled, "There are many many things that I can do that you'll never know about. At least not yet." She stepped forward, scratching the dragon under the chin. Toothless didn't want her to touch him, but the scratching felt _so good. _She moved her hand down more, beginning to scratch at his neck. He had started purring when he realized Hallow was going for his sweet spot, to distract him. He leapt back, brandishing a screech.

Toothless started to boil with anger. _"What do you want, girl? What did you say to Screech? What's your __real__ story!" _he roared.

"Toothless," she began, "what I told Screech, _frightens _me. It's hard to explain, but I can't help it. It's my instinct."

"_Oh yeah?" _Toothless challenged, _"Mind explaining what you're afraid of, exactly?"_

She giggled menacingly, her eyes glittering with hidden secrets Toothless worried to find out. "I'll tell you what I'm afraid of, if you tell me what _you're _afraid of," she proposed.

Toothless stood there, baffled. _"W-what?"_

"You know what I said," she deadpanned.

Toothless simply tripped over his words for a moment, not knowing whether to tell the girl or not. He narrowed his eyes, and decided to lie. _"I don't have any fears. I am a Night Fury, what should I fear?" _he spat, snarling at the end.

Her voice rang like bells again, her hand coming to her mouth slightly. Toothless cocked his head, confused. "Toothless, Toothless, Toothless, everyone fears _something; _even you." Toothless's eyes widened. Did she know? "You fear _time. _It's the only thing you can't protect the humans from. That blonde girl, the grown-ups, _Hiccup__._ You can protect them from man, dragons, and everything in between; but never _time._"

Toothless was dumbfounded. His breathing had picked up, his body started to feel slightly numb. This little girl knew his weakness, what else did she know? _"Yeah?" _he hissed, _"Well what do you fear?"_

She rolled her eyes, a bored expression taking over. Then she half smiled, shrugging. "Me."

Toothless's jaw dropped, mainly out of confusion. He blinked, wrinkling his face up. _"You? But how—"_

"Well not me, exactly," she cut in, "it's my thoughts. I have—bad thoughts."

Toothless scoffed, now smiling as if to hide any confusion. _"T-thoughts about what?" _he demanded.

She smirked, the corner of her lip turning up into a sly grin. "You," she chirped.

Toothless blinked quickly. _"M-me? What, what kinda thoughts—about, me?"_ he spat out.

"Killing you."

Toothless let out a trembling breath. Why was he afraid of a little girl? He shouldn't be afraid, dragons aren't afraid! But, then again, he wasn't like every other dragon*. _"W-what? Why, what'd I do?"_

She shrugged, puckering her lips. "I just don't like you very much."

_"Why?" _Toothless asked, shaking his head.

She smiled, fluttering her eye lashes. "You're hifalutin."

Toothless shook his head again, racking his brain for a definition. _"I don't even know what that means!"_

"Boastful, prideful, full of yourself. You're smug, too. Should I tell you what that means?" she asked, tauntingly.

Toothless laughed, finding it amusing how the girl was threatening _him, _a Night Fury! _"Once I tell Hiccup—" _he started to threaten.

"Oh no, no no!" she intervened, "Hiccup's not learning anything! And, if you do decide to tell him… .Well, you may want to watch _his _back more closely than your own." She cocked her head, eyeing the Night Fury for a moment. Toothless wanted to look away, but her pretty lite brown eyes were like magnets, evil sly magnets that once you look at them, you can't pull from the trance. She finally blinked, and skipped off to Hiccup's side. Toothless watched Hiccup greet the girl, take her hand and start to walk towards him.

"K, Toothless you ready to—," he began, but once seeing the expression on Toothless's face he paused. "Hey, what's wrong buddy?"

Toothless kept his gaze on Hallow, praying Hiccup would take the silent message. Hallow glared, the foggy, grey color coming back to her eyes. Toothless thought better, remembering her threat, and shook his head. Hallow smiled, satisfied; the candy color seeping into her eyes once more.

"O-ok," Hiccup settled with, not fully believing him, "but maybe you should rest when we get home. You look sick."

Hallow stifled a giggle.

"Yeah," she said with a high-pitched voice, "he probably ate something," she suggested, and the trio started their way home. Hallow let go of Hiccup's hand, running up to Toothless to make it look like she was petting and soothing the dragon.

"Or maybe he just messed with the wrong person."

O~~~~~~O

Screech happily followed Gobber home after a long day at work, watching the man's footing to assure he wouldn't fall. Gobber arrived to his home, looking up at the dragon and smiling widely. Screech bent his head down, nuzzling Gobber's shoulder and purring when he started to scratch his head.

"Now ye' know you can't fit in me house, Screech," Gobber explained, calmly. Screech whined, widening his eyes. "No, don' give me the eyes, noow. Ther's no way I c'n get yoo in h're. Why don't ye go 'unting, mm? But don' worry, I'm goona fix n to widen dis door soon enough."

Screech crooned again, butting heads with Gobber. Gobber scratched him one last time, and the two bid good night to each other.

Screech watched his human go in the house before making his way to the forest. Hunting would be good for him, he decided. It would keep him occupied till he wanted to go to bed. He trotted to the wood at a brisk pace, smiling the whole way.

The moon was eerily looking tonight. The charcoal clouds made the creamy light look more grey than the usual color. Storm clouds stalked overhead, as if watching the little island of Berk. The depths of the forest would've been pitch black to a human, but luckily for Screech his eyes were trained enough. Wind whistled past his ears, as if whispering the wood's secrets to anyone willing to listen. The muffled delicate sound reminded him a lot of what the little girl, Hallow, had said to him.

_"O'tta hvísla þitt í dapurlegar sorti í nótt, beið bana."*_

Screech felt a shudder travel up his boney back at the thought. What could the girl possibly mean? Screech brought his thoughts to a halt, refusing to confuse and frighten himself any further. Just an abused seven year old whom was just probably repeating something from the hated grown-ups that used to 'take care' of her. But still….. .

He continued to trek through the moist forest, ears listening intently for any prey. The woods were a deathly still tonight, much to Screech's terror. The silence was so heavy it felt like a giant woolen blanket, enveloping the whole forest and silencing any outside sounds.

It was when Screech heard a snap and hiss he froze.

He stood there, his bones rattling and mind coming up with every possibility of what the sound could be. He heard it again. Screech spun around, growling. To his dismay and confusion, nothing. This time he heard something big snap from the back of him, but when he turned around, nothing. Again. His breathing picked up and fear began to dwell and taunt him in his mind. He heard the snapping-hiss sound again; only this time, closer. Too close.

He peered down at his tail.

Slowly, the bones were **falling apart**, horrifically **snapping** off with a **great force** and clashing to the ground with a dull thump. Screech widened his eyes, roaring in terror. Why were his bones falling off? What was going on? Nothing made sense! There was no reason why his body would be _**falling**_**apart**, he wasn't sick! And those words: the words! They continued to play over and over in his mind like a broken fuzzy record, forever to continue. He was confused, he was scared! Why—no. It couldn't be… .

Hallow.

He knew everything now. Her secret, what she meant, why she was so attached to Hiccup, the only boy with a _Night Fury! _The puzzle pieces flew together at a rate so fast Screech could barely keep up. He needed to go back and warn Toothless, they _had _to _**kill**_Hallow before something bad happened!

He sped through the trees, trying to ignore the cracking sounds coming from his tail. It was when he saw his ribs start to break apart, he panicked. He reared back, releasing a terror filled roar as the rib landed in a pile of leaves. He spun in circles, trying to watch and keep his body from breaking up anymore. Then his spine started to break, the round off-white pieces falling to the dirt in slow-motion, it seemed. He reared back, letting his neck bend back all the way as he let out a petrified shriek.

Oh, how wrong of an idea that was.

He bent his neck back _too _far, distracted with the fear that surrounded him, physically and mentally. He bashed his head on a tree, cracking his neck. Wait; correction. _Breaking _his frail, skinny neck. In half.

He was paralyzed. Everything seemed to freeze, the whole woods coming to a dark halt. And then he just—fell. Thudded to the cold careless dirt in a sickening heap. Motionless. Not breathing.

Dead.

O~~~~~~O

"What's this?" Hallow asked, sitting up in bed and taking the mug of steaming liquid.

Hiccup smiled, sitting at the bottom of Hallow's (Stoick's, actually) bed. He looked at her thoughtfully. "It's a tea that'll help you sleep. I know you've been having trouble, and my mom," he flinched at saying the word 'mom', "used to give it to me when I couldn't sleep. I thought it would help."

Hallow smiled, and sipped the tea graciously. "Thank you," she said.

Hiccup nodded, taking the cup and placing it on the night stand. Toothless watched darkly from the doorway, eyes narrowed and pit burning with hatred. He hadn't said a word after they got home, much to Hiccup's worriment. He convinced himself the dragon was sick and forced him to rest the rest of the day, which wasn't entirely bad if Toothless hadn't been steaming with anger. Hiccup stood up, planning on making his way out but the sight of Toothless startled him. He gasped, jumping a bit and taking a step back.

"Hey buddy, feel better?"

He continued to stare gruesomely.

"Buddy, what's wrong?" Still nothing. "Toothless, I'm getting fed-up. Come on, you're—you're kinda scaring me bud." He walked to the dragon, kneeling down about a foot in front of him and giving him a stern stare. "What's. Wrong."

Toothless growled.

Hiccup was dumbfounded. Toothless seemed to be peeved about something, and he just growled at him for no reason at all! Hiccup was about to scold the dragon when he heard the door downstairs fly open and hurried, clumsy footsteps up the stairs.

Astrid appeared behind Toothless, breathless and sweaty.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Hiccup teased, smiling.

"It's Screech," Astrid explained, still trying to catch her breath.

Toothless's eyes widened, he whipped around to stare at the blonde. "What?" Hiccup asked, concern everywhere in his voice.

"He's—he's," Astrid stumbled, not fully believing what she was saying, "He's dead."

Hiccup felt his insides crumble. It was so unsuspected, death was the last thing that had come to his mind. Toothless was frozen on the spot, gaping at Astrid. Then his head shot at the now sleeping form of Hallow, growling with loathe. He quickly snagged his teeth on Hiccup's vest, yanking him out of the room and slamming the door.

"Toothless! What was that?" Hiccup yelped, sprawled out on the floor.

"Hiccup, what's wrong with Toothless?" Astrid asked, looking between the two.

Toothless started going on all at once about an evil girl, evil plot, evil, evil, 'I hate her!' and so forth. Hiccup was startled, concern for his friend blooming in his stomach. He looked to an alarmed Astrid. "Astrid, you should go. Toothless seems to be ill, I'm gonna see what I can do. I'll be out in about ten minutes, k?" he explained more calmly than he felt. Astrid, still confused, merely nodded reluctantly and made her way out of the house.

Toothless was still mumbling endlessly when the door slammed, and Hiccup put a hand on the top of his snout and another on the bottom to make him stop. "Toothless. Now, explain to me what's wrong, slowly and calmly."

He gently let go of the confused dragon's snout, sitting back on his hands.

_"I'm not sick!" _Toothless blurted out.

"Ok then, why are you acting so weird?"

"_Her__," _he hissed, looking at the now closed door.

"Hallow?" Hiccup asked, confused, "What did she do?"

_"Hiccup," _Toothless began, not wanting to tell him but the urge was killing him. And if it's Hallow's fault Screech is dead… .

"_She's, she's something else! I don't know what, but she's not __normal__, understand? I don't know—I don't think I should—she threatened me!" _He spit out, regretting it immediately.

"W-what?" Hiccup stammered.

_"Well, she threatened __you__, but to threaten me! And, grr! This is so FRUSTRATING! I don't wanna tell, because she said she'd hurt you, but if I don't someone else will, and it's all gonna be on me! And GODS I feel like some chick!" _Toothless complained, trying to compose himself, _"Hallow said—__something__ to Screech today, something that scared and confused him. I don't know what, but right after she said if I said a word she'd hurt you."_

"What?" Hiccup was now more confused than ever, "But, Hallow can't—"

_"She can understand me."_

Hiccup's mouth dangled open. "H-how?"

Toothless shook his head, staring at the ground. _"I don't know, but that makes things ten-times worse in my opinion. We, we can't keep her anymore. Something's not right about her, I can tell!"_

Hiccup scoffed, barely believing it. Deciding not to believe it. "Toothless you're overreacting."

Toothless's eyes dilated. _"Y-you don't believe me?" _

"Listen, I know you aren't fond of Hallow but—"

_"I'm not lying!" _he roared, shaking the whole house.

"I'm sorry pal, but it's hard to believe a _seven year old girl _scared _you, _a Night Fury! And then somehow _killed _Screech when she's been home all day! I'm so sorry bud, maybe—maybe you should lie down. You look pale," Hiccup explained, standing up and putting a hand on Toothless's head.

Toothless shook it off, snarling. _"I'm—Not—Sick! And I'm not lying! I told you I __don't know how she killed Screech__, but she did something to him! She's not safe, you have to believe me!" _Toothless pleaded.

"I'm sorry," is all Hiccup said.

Toothless roared in frustration, glaring at Hiccup. _"Fine! Don't believe me! I don't care __what__ she does to you!"_

Toothless sped down the stairs, angry, but more scared than anything. He was running out of panic, not cause he was mad and didn't care about Hiccup.

"Toothless wait!"

But Hiccup didn't know that.

O~~~~~~O

They had the funeral two days after they found Screech. Hiccup now watched, with Hallow's hand in his, as the ship gracefully drifted out on the black wrinkled waters. He was full of sorrow and sympathy, Gobber was a mess. Gobber stood nearest to the drifting boat, refusing to admit his eyes were actually watering; and that he actually cried when no one was around. Toothless had been missing ever since, hiding in the woods Hiccup suspected. He watched as Gobber lit his arrow with a brilliant orange flame, then shoot it towards the boat like a falling star. The ship caught flame instantly, and now it looked like the sun, the sun they had not seen in weeks because of the storms and gloomy clouds. Nobody suspected anything. Just a little accident. Maybe he fell, some said. Maybe he wasn't looking where he was going, others suggested.

But if you know how Screech looked, you would say otherwise.

Er, let me explain.

Two days ago, they had found Screech in the woods, at midnight. His neck was broken; snapped in half, an awful sight to any who laid eyes upon. Hearts sad and filled with longing, they had prepared the boat with two days and placed the still, cold body of Screech on the ship. Gobber had given the dragon a final scratch, actually bending down and rubbing his cheek against Screech's. Hiccup said his final good-bye, leaving with a heavy heart. And soon they let the boat drift away, with the body of Screech the happy, kind Boneknapper.

With all but one bone intact.

**A/N: I hate myself. I just killed the Boneknapper! I'm sorry, please forgive me! ARGH! I can't believe myself. Anyway, sorry to leave you at such a cliffie, but I thought it was a good stopping place. I've determined this will be in four epic-ly epic parts, so prepare! Yup, and now to explain the stars:**

***No, not a lovey romantic way. Brother/Sister. Do not take it wrong, I command you!**

***I decided to make Gobber Hiccup's godparent, only seemed right.**

***I have another one-shot "Dragons, Fish, Trolls, Oh My!" That will explain everything Toothless burning down the torch.**

***Boneknapper: from the DVD extra short-movie thing.**

***How special Toothless is will be explained in Part III!**

***Copy and Paste the Icelandic on Google translator to see what it means ^^**

**I think that's it…. . Just tell me if it isn't. K, I'm done.**

**God blesses you! 8D**


	8. Hiccups

**SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY! I haven't updated in forever! And this is not the next part to a Dark Veil, sorry. : ( I really, really am. Schools been hounding me and I got so much other stuff to work on. It's about half way done, and I plan on finishing this weekend. I'm writing this short little one-shot to make it up to you guys. You don't even have to review this one if you don't want to, just enjoy it. : )**

**Characters: Hiccup and Toothless**

**Summary: It was—shocking, yet hilarious at the same time. You've heard it hear folks: Hiccup has the hiccups.**

"_**Hiccups"**_

_**Third POV**_

Hiccup was working in the forge when _it _happened.

It was the worst possible thing that could happen to a boy like, well, like _Hiccup. _

Said boy was working on an ax for one of the villagers, pounding on the blade with a hammer to even it out a bit. Toothless was dying of boredom a couple feet away, his claw now tracing shapes into the wood as an attempt to entertain himself—and it was failing. The dragon flinched every time the clanking of metal meeting metal echoed throughout the tiny forge. He gave an irritable huff and turned his back to the apprentice and his work.

_"Hiccup, have I ever told you I __hate__ your job?" _ Toothless commented, the heat of the forge and his boredom making him tetchy.

Hiccup sighed, halting his hammering. "Yes, Toothless, you've told me a couple of times," he said. Hiccup knew that Toothless never liked it in the forge, but the dragon was itching to go flying today and couldn't do it without Hiccup. He wanted to be there right when the boy was done.

_"Can't you hurry?" _ The Night Fury whined. "_It's nice out; we should be flying not cooped up in this steaming shack!"_

Hiccup sighed again. "Yeah, well—_hic!"_

Toothless's eyes flashed. He turned around and stared at his friend. _"Hiccup?"_

Hiccup on the other hand looked horrified. "_Hic!"_

Toothless jumped this time. _"What the heck was that?" _

"I—I—_hic!" _ Hiccup's hands flew to his mouth.

Before Toothless realized it, he was rolling on the floor with laughter. Hiccup grimaced.

"It's _hic! _not _hic! _funny!"

_"Oh, but it is!" _Toothless smirked, finally ceasing his laughter and breathing heavily on the floor. _"Hiccup has the hiccups!"_

Hiccup looked frantic, jerking his apron off and pacing the room, his hands moving rapidly as he spoke. "This, this isn't good! _hic! _I was always _hic! _made fun of as a kid _hic! _whenever I got the _hic! _hiccups! Oh Gods, what _hic! _am I gonna do!" he moaned, slamming his head against the wall.

Toothless chuckled a heavy dragon laugh and stood up. _"Well come on, it's not going to help just complaining about it."_

O~~~~~~O

_"Alright…" _Toothless started, looking through the contents in the basket. The duo decided to go to the healer for this case of hiccups, and she suggested a couple of 'remedies' that could cure Hiccup's hiccups. They gathered all the supplies they needed (Hiccup making his choking noises the whole time, much too Toothless's annoyance) and decided to go to the sweet privacy of the gorge (much to Hiccup's gratitude).

_"…let's see, where do we start…" _the dragon continued, doing his best to ignore the noises emitting from his riders throat.

"Tooth, _hic! _why don't I try holding my breath first? I don't _hic! _feel like getting up right now_ hic!_" Hiccup said sluggishly, lying in the grass with his hands behind his head.

Toothless heaved a sigh, giving a sharp look to 'the patient'. _"And you call me lazy?" _

"You _hic! _are lazy."

The black dragon scoffed and stomped his way towards the teenager, plopping down heavily in front of him. With the tip of his tail, he slung it around and pushed Hiccup's back up, making him sit in an up-right position—much to his protests.

"_Shut-up. Now hold your breath, those hiccups are getting on my nerves," _he said with a slight smirk.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He sucked in a deep breath, and instead of letting it out, he held it with puffy cheeks. Toothless now had his arms (if you would call them that) crossed, too, looking at the boy with interest. He really had no clue about these human cures—how on earth could holding your breath help with a digestion problem?

They waited.

And waited….

Waited some more…..

Just a tad bit more….

Toothless was getting inpatient….

And Hiccup was turning a very pretty shade of blue!

_"Uhh, Hic?"_

To answer Toothless, Hiccup turned and even deeper shade of azure.

_"Hiccup, ok stop you need to breathe!" _Toothless panicked, his voice raising.

Hiccup shook his head vigorously to answer the question, concaving in on himself as his face now turned into that of a grape's color.

_"Hiccup who cares about the hiccups just breathe, __idiot__!" _ Toothless harshly shoved the boy's chest with his tail, making his fall backwards and let out his breath. Hiccup lay sprawled on the ground for a while, breathing heavily. After pacing his breathing, Hiccup sat up on his arms and smiled at Toothless.

"Hey! I think they're _hic!_—**Gods **curse the son of a—!"

_"Watch your language…."_

"**You watch your language**!"

Toothless looked appalled; he stood up on all fours and walked over to Hiccup. _"Whoa whoa whoa don't take this out on me! You're awfully touchy when you have hiccups…"_

Hiccup, though still looking angry, let out an apologetic sigh and looked up. "Yeah, _hic! _sorry. What do we try _hic! _next?"

Toothless thought about it for a moment, staring at the grass as if expecting the weeds to give an idea. A bird chirped a high note to his right, and he whipped his head around to stare at it. The bird met his eyes, ruffling his ocean colored feathers and cocking his head. Toothless cocked his head in return, and with one final whistle, the bird fluttered away.

And Toothless had an idea.

Smacking Hiccup on the head with his handy dandy tail to grab his attention, he gestured toward the tree he liked to hang from with his head. Hiccup gave him a quizzical look, hiccupping as he did so. Toothless reeled his eyes and darted over to the tree, his rider following warily behind him. With an excited expression the dragon scaled the tree and looped his tail around a sturdy branch; bracing himself, Toothless continued by letting go of the base of the tree and hanging down limply from the limb.

"Toothless…_hic! _I don't know how _you hic! _taking a nap is going to help _hic! _me get rid of my _hic! _hiccups," the teenager pointed out, narrowing his eye brows in though.

_"Don't freak out…" _Toothless warned, gaining a sly smile.

Hiccup immediately stepped back. "_hic! _Why shouldn't I—"

Suddenly Hiccup was suspended in the air—Toothless had swung forward and snatched him off the ground with his paws. Hiccup yelped in surprise, kicking his feet as they no longer had anything under them.

"Toothless _hic! _put me _down!" _he demanded, trying to pry the dragon's talons off his torso.

_"Calm down you big baby. The healer said hanging upside down works, so don't freak out when I flip you upside down," _the winged-creature explained calmly.

"When you _what!"_

Toothless couldn't help the scoff. _"Just make sure you hook your leg around the branch!"_

With another yap Hiccup was hung upside down. Toothless, making sure to keep his grip, turned to the side with his flexible spinal-cord and made sure Hiccup's leg hooked onto the branch. Hiccup, though reluctantly, hung his one leg off the branch while the other (with the prosthetic) he placed next to it with his hands.

"I'm gonna _hic! _kill you."

Toothless smiled. _"Of course you are."_

They sat for a moment. Well, hung is more like it.

In that moment, Hiccup hiccupped a couple of times.

"Hey Tooth?"

_"Yes?"_

"Does it count if _hic! _ I'm hiccupping _while _I'm _hic! _upside down?"

Yet another awkward silence.

_"You know, human cures are ridiculous," _Toothless commented.

"Ditto," Hiccup agreed. "So how do I get down?"

_"Just let me—"_

_**Thump.**_

Toothless peered over to see Hiccup had disappeared. Making a presumption, he glanced at the ground. He cocked his head.

_"Hey Hiccup, how'd you get down there so fast!" _he teased.

Hiccup pulled himself up with his arms, sputtering out grass and dirt. "Take _hic! _a wild guess."

With a hearty chuckle Toothless leapt down from the tree gracefully. He swaggered his way over to Hiccup, smiling smugly the whole way. The lad groaned and pulled himself to his feet, hiccupping once again.

_"Ok, well the healer suggested only one other thing, and that was drinking water __while__ you're upside down," _Toothless concluded. Hiccup, with a long over-done sigh, walked over to the wicker basket and pulled out a tiny oak cup. He examined the cup, his nose scrunching up and brow furrowing.

"I have to _hic! _what?" he asked.

_"__Drink water upside down__," _Toothless repeated.

Hiccup, still looking confused, limped over to the pond and scooped up a cup full of water. "How the _hic! _heck do I do that?"

_"Well…" _The Night Fury kind cocked his head, his ear almost touching his neck. _"Turn your head like this—I guess—and then, well, I don't know, try to drink it…?"_

Hiccup just stared at the cup dumbly, then at his dragon. With an unsure shrug he copied the movements, his neck at an uncomfortable position. He looked at the cup with uncertainty, then, gradually, he lifted the cup to his lips and took a drink.

Well, tried to.

All of the contents of the cup drenched his face and chest. He threw the cup to the ground and stepped back, coughing and sputtering. Toothless immediately fell to the earth, howling with laughter, mainly because Hiccup was now soaked with water, but to top it all off he was _still _hiccupping in between coughs.

"Oh _hic! _Gods! It went up my _hic! _nose!"

Toothless laughed harder, clutching his sides with his paws and rolling in the dirt. Finally controlling his laughter and breathing, he looked to his best friend and wiped a tear from his eye. _"You wanna know something? I think these remedies are to entertain the friends of the 'hiccuper'."_

"Shut _hic! _up."

O~~~~~~O

So now we find our two 'heroes' if you will, walking to the mead hall that night for supper. Hiccup, naturally, still hiccupping the whole way.

"Toothless, why don't we _hic! _eat at home?" Hiccup suggested sheepishly.

_"Really Hiccup? Listen, it's no big deal. They aren't going to beat you up or anything, let's just go! A little teasing never hurt anyone," _Toothless said, and before Hiccup could protest they entered the mead hall.

They froze at the entrance for a moment, scanning the mass of people for the five familiar faces of Hiccup's friends. Spotting them, they (some more warily than others…) both made their way to the corner of the room where the five were conversing. Toothless gave Hiccup an encouraging smile then curled up beside the group. The trainees all greeted Hiccup, but the teenager kept his lips pressed together and simply waved.

"So as I was saying—" Snotlout continued, directing his attention to Tuffnut. "—Fireworm, could _so _out fly your dragon!"

"Yeah, whatever!" Ruffnut answered for her brother. "Your Nightmare has _no _chance against our Zippleback!"

"Hey hey hey!" Astrid cut in, silencing the group. She smiled sweetly and pointed her thumb at Hiccup. "We _all _know nothing could beat Toothless."

_"Of course not!" _the dragon chipped from beside the six.

"Right Hiccup?" Astrid continued. Said boy's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, but then he quickly covered it up and nodded eagerly.

All of the teens stared at him.

"Uhhh, H-hiccup? You alright?" Fishlegs stuttered.

He nodded again.

"Really?" Tuffnut said. "Why don't you try talking then?"

"Yeah," Astrid continued, "what's wrong?"

All of them stared at Hiccup with looks of questioning, but concern at the same time. Hiccup realized the jig was up, and with one final bite to his lip, he prayed to the Gods his hiccups had magically disappeared.

"I…_hic!"_

But this is _Hiccup _we're talking about, his name says it all.

Fishlegs had jumped, Ruff, Tuff, and Snotlout had all gained amused smiles, and Astrid looked between surprised and entertained. Hiccup's hand was over his mouth, his eyes as wide as saucers and face as red as a cherry. He slowly took his hand off his mouth, giving a shy chuckle.

"_Hic!"_

"Dude!" Snotlout howled, laughing heartily, "Hiccup _has _the hiccups!"

Four of the trainees chuckled, not mockingly, no, but friendly laughs that even you would laugh say if your best friend ran into a wall. Hiccup blushed a brighter shade of scarlet, scooting back into the wall as if trying to melt into it. The only one not laughing was Astrid. Hiccup looked at her, contracting his eyes in confusion. She wasn't laughing at all—she was smiling as if it were all a game.

"What?" Hiccup asked, "Even I _hic! _it's a little funny _hic!"_

Astrid tilted her head, her eyes twinkling playfully. Hiccup tried to take a step back, as if afraid, but realized he was all the way against the wall. Astrid step forward and stared at him. Suddenly, her hands shot out and she grabbed him by the vest. Hiccup could barely utter a squeal before Astrid's lips smashed on to his. Though confused at first, Hiccup progressively grew into the kiss. He became more comfortable and pressed back. The blonde eventually pulled away from the red-head, all eyes of the teens on them.

"Whoa…" Tuff muttered ignorantly, "Get a room you two!" Everyone laughed along with him.

Hiccup smirked and then stared back at him, "We have a room, get out," he shot back. Then he came to sudden realization. "Hey, my hiccups are gone!"

Astrid clapped her hands together. "I knew that would work, you're welcome, Hiccup," she flirted, balancing her elbow on his shoulder.

Hiccup looked gleeful. "Thanks Astrid," he said, hugging her from behind. She grinned back and pecked his cheek, getting a disgusted look from the rest of the group.

Snotlout then got a sneaky look, and stepped forward; a little closer to Astrid than Hiccup really liked. "So…." The burly boy drawled, "If _I _get the hiccups, do I get a kiss?"

Hiccup felt the need to punch him.

But Astrid stopped him and smiled playfully again. She took Hiccup's arms off her waist and stepped even _closer _to Snotlout.

"I can give you something right now…" she said seductively.

Snotlout's eyes brightened; he closed his eyes and expected a kiss, and Astrid leaned forward and _looked _like he was going to give him one.

But instead, he got a good old kick to the groin.

Snotlout's oversized teeth pierced into his bottom lip, his hands automatically going to his sweet spot. He fell on both his knees and withered on the ground, Astrid smiling the whole time. She flicked her hair in his direction and stepped back and put Hiccup's arms around her waist again. The whole group was cackling with laughter, even Toothless had tears in his eyes.

"Yeah…." Snotlout wheezed, looking up with watery eyes, "I'm sure that would get rid of them…."

**A/N: Well I didn't send this to a beta, so I apologize for mistakes. Next part of a Dark Veil will be up by sometime next week, I promise! I didn't really like this that much, but I hope it makes up for my absence : )**


	9. Author's NoteApology

**Look guys, I'm alive….heh heh….**

**I'm SO SORRY. Really really really really really really really sorry. It's been nearly a year hasn't it? I'm a horrible person…**

**But this is just a quick note that I will be updating, very soon ( I hope) Lately it's just been CRAZY. Nothing bad happened no, but this is probably the first free weekend I've had since…. April? And to add to that I just started high school, which is absolutely terrifying, btw, and the homework amount gives me nightmares (no joke). BUT! I will be updating, hopefully next weekend, and more often. I'll even have a new story! Not HTTYD, unfortunately, I've recently been introduced to some anime series… **

**But anyway, for my small amount of readers still out there, you deserve a giant apology, and a good long chapter….thanks for sticking with me!**

**God bless! 3 **


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